. -K-f, A. o ^ ^ 



• • /• ^^ * > - *^ 









^^ -; 




' . . * * A 









1 a 



^^ C^ -^\\l//i^.^ '^, A 
















0^ 0°.".'.. ■^O -.*^ .v.. 










-J^" t 



< o 









Ayy^~»~ 








New York 



1872. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, by Geqrge L. Cati.in, in the year 1872. in the 
Office ot the Librarian ot CongtesF, at \\ ashingion. 



NEW YORK 

AND 

OSWEGO 

RAILWAY 



MIDLAND 



THE MOST CONVENIENT AND DESIRABLE ROUTE 

KROM OR TO 

Hackensack, Faterson, Passaic Falls, 

Fompton, Greenivood Lake, Franklin, Deckertoum, 

Unionville, Middletozvn, Elleninlle, Monticello and Liberty. 



PEW" The only Line from New York to Ellenville, and all points in Ulster and 
Sullivan Counties without change. 

||^^° The only Line connecting: at Paterson with horse cars to Passaic Falls. 
^^W^ The only Line to Hackensack & Middletown which avoids Bergen Tunnel. 

Fares and Commutaticn Bates from New York. 

{SUBJECT TO CHANGE). 



STATIONS. 



K.2 
aS2 



Y'rly 
com. 
Rate. 



STATIONS. 



New Durham 

Ridgefield Park.. .. 

Bogota 

Hackensack. 

May wood 

Lodi 

Dundee Lake 

Paterson 

Riverside 

Hawthorne 

Van Winkles 

Midland Park 

Wortendyke 

WyckoflF 

Campgaw 

Crystal Lake 

Oakland 

Pompton 

Bloomingdale 

West Bloomingdale 

Smiths Mills 

Charlotteburgh.. ., 
New Foundland ... 

Oak Ridge 

Stockholm 

Snufftown 

Ogdensburg 

Franklin 

Hamburgh 

Lawrence 



55 
55 
65 
65 
70 
70 
75 
80 

35 
90 
90 
95 

Tl.OO 

1 .10 
I.I5 

1.25 

1-35 
1-45 
I-50 
1.60 
I 75 
1.85 
1-95 
2.05 

2.15 
2.30 
2.40 
2.50 



00 'Martins 

CO Deckertown 

00 I Wantage 

50 Quarry Ville 

Van Sickles 

Unionville 

West Town 

Johnsons 

Slate Hill 

Middletown 

Sands 

Fair Oaks 

Purdys 

Lockwocd's 

Winterton 

Bloomingburg — 

Wurtsboro 

Summitvill« 

Sandburgh. 

Centerville 

Fallsburgh 

Hurley 

Liberty Falls 

Phillipsport 

Homowack 

Ellenville 

Circleville 

Bullville 

Thompson Ridge. 

Pine Bush 



Y'rly 
com. 
Rate. 



2^60 


154-00 










2.70 

2-75 
2-75 
2-75 
2.75 


157.00 

1 60.. 00 










3-41 
3-47 




4-37 
4.61 

5.00 




4.00 












3-75 





WM. H. WEED, General Ticket Agent- 



HOMES Z MIDLAND 

FOR 

NEW YOEK BUSINESS MEN. 



A DrSCRIPTION OF THE REGION TRAVERSED BY THE NEW JERSEY DIVISION OF THB 

New York Midland Railway, 



HEW YORK CITY KM ELLEir/ILLE. ULSTER CO., N. Y. 

Together with a Statement of the Inducements Offered Con- 
jointly BY the Railway Company and Property Owners 
along the Line to tho&e desirous of securing 

A HOME OUTSIDE OF THE CITY. 



" Oh, for some spot to call our own 
Some humble roof— however lowly — 
I '■ Where we can say this place is holy, 

^ ' - ' Because 'tis home— ours — ours alone — 
From roof-tree to fouuclation stone." 

JERE JOHNSON. 



— BY — 

J. W. I'EATT, steam BOOK AND .JOB PRINTER, 75 FULTON STREET. 



1^72. 
v.. vv. \v. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The recent completion of the New Jersey Division of the 
New York Midland Railway, bringing within easy distance 
of the Metropolis many thriving towns and villages, hitherto 
comparatively remote, and rendering eligible, as convenient 
places of residence for New York business men, nmnerous 
picturesque and healthful localities, previously accessible 
only by stage or wagon, has made desirable the publication 
of a worlc of this character, with a view to placing before the 
thousands of tired city toilers, a clear, plain statement of 
the faciHties and advantages offered to purchasers of homes 
in the fertile and rapidly growing region thus newly opened 
to direct railway communication, '.rhe careful reader will 
especially remark in his imaginary journey over the Hne, the 
tendency to a rapid yet healthful development in most of 
the places treated of. With the railroad has come an in- 
fusion of new enterprises, new projects, new life. Manufac- 
tories, churches, school-houses, hotels, and scores of tasteful 
residences are springing up; new settlements are cleared, sur- 
veyed, graded and put upon the market, only to find ready 
buyers ; travel steadily increases, and lo ! we have another 
great outlet from the dust, and brick and stone of the 
crowded city to the green fields and pure air of the suburbs. 



to 



G. L. C. 



Sept., 1872. 






HOMES ON THE MIDLAND 



FOR 



NEW YOSK BUSINESS MEN. 



New York is fast becoming a city of stores, factories and 
warehouses. People may talk as they will, may point to the 
long squares of brown stone residences going up every year 
in the up-town streets, may dilate upon the conveniences and 
comforts attendant upon city-life, may, in short, bring up all 
the trite arguments in favor of living in town, yet they can- 
not close their eyes to the inexorable fact that business is 
spreading out its hundred hands wider and wider every year, 
ruthlessly seizing their granite residences and converting them 
into retail dry goods or miUinery stores, opening hotels and 
theaters in the thoroughfares once deemed secure from such 
invasion, crowding out quiet famiHes to make way for horrid 
boarding houses, and every day advancing by slow but sure 
approaches to invest the whole of Manhattan Island with the 
characteristics of one vast bazaar. 

Why ! not over twenty years ago, Depau Row on Bleecker 
St., or those respectable looking residences on East Broadway 
were deemed select places of residence, yet they became un- 
inhabitable because of the surroundings ; then there was 
Clinton Place, and the region about Washington Square. A 
person wanted no choicer location for a dwelling place than 
in either one of these ; yet, on came trade and then Four- 



4 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

teenth St., with its brown stone fronts was considered quite 
high enough up town for fashionable people ; but it was of 
no avail. Fourteenth Street, now full of stores, is given over 
to King Commerce, and the region of select residences hav_ 
ing been successively transplanted from around Union and 
Madison Squares, has at present come to be away up in 
the vicinity of Central Park, its last ditch, whence it is safe 
to say, in not many years it will be driven at the point of the 
bayonet by advancing hordes of manufacturers and trades- 
men. 

Where then, you ask, are all these people to live ? They 
must have homes, whither at the end of their daily dabbling 
in stocks or silks, or fumbling of ledgers, they may repair to 
eat, to rest, to sleep. It isn't agreeable to eat, sleep and 
work in one and the same room. None but the most poverty 
stricken have to do that, and even they need not, if they will 
go into the country. A man who works for eight or ten 
hours out of twenty-four, must have a change of scene when 
his work is over, if he would refresh his mind, and continue 
his labors satisfactorily the next day. So, where, you ask 
again, are all these city workers to go when their daily toil is 
ended ? Why, we answer, to the country. And, first here 
it may be said, there is probably no large city in the world 
so advantageously located as is New York for affording its 
citizens easy egress to the country about it ; nor is there any 
city which has about it more charming or healthful rural 
resorts. Tourists invariably view with exclamations of de- 
light the wooded villa-lined shores of the Hudson, and the 
peaceful^, prosperous landscapes of neighboring New Jersey. 
Whither, more enjoy ably or more conveniently can a man at 
the close of his days labor, turn his steps homeward than to 
one of the quiet hamlets over the river, within from half an 
hour to an hour's ride of his place of business — a ride not as 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. ^ 

in the city, in slow crowded horse cars or stages, but in swift 
spacious ferry boats, and roomy, elegant coaches, whisking 
him homeward past an everchanging panorama of natural 
beauties, and setting him down at his own door, fully as soon 
as if he lived at Fiftieth Street, or over in Brooklyn. 

That this is no over wrought picture, figures, tlie most in- 
controvertible argument in the world, prove. Fifteen years 
ago there were comparatively few people who had the hardi- 
hood to make a daily journey back and forth between the 
adjacent New Jersey villages and their business in New York. 
Such people were the exception then. Now, ten chances to 
one, if you ask a business man where he lives, his answer will 
be " over in New Jersey." And the tendency thither is annu- 
ally growing with a wondrous growth. Stand at any one of 
the North River down town ferry landings on any week-day 
morning, between the hours of seven and nine, and see the 
thousands of people pouring into the city to their work if you 
would gain any idea of the immense extent of travel of this 
kind. But figures will tersely show it still more plainly when 
w^e repeat a statement, made some time ago by the New York 
Herald, that over twenty seven per cent., or nearly one third of 
the inhabitants of Metropolitan New York, reside in New 
Jersey, and in the New York counties of Rockland and 
Orange beyond it. 

There are many evident reasons for this constantly in- 
creasing preference among business men for country homes. 
In the first place, they look at it on the ground of 

Economy. 

Take for instance a man with a small family and a moderate 
income, say two thousand dollars a year. He certainly can- 
not buy a house in town. There ren)ains for him the alter- 
native of renting a house, or going to board. In either case 



6 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

he will more probably go by the board. House rents in the 
city are at an enormous figure. A thousand or twelve hun- 
dred dollars will barely suffice to pay rent for any sort of 
habitable abode, and our imaginary paterfamilias finds him- 
self with a pitiably short purse left to supply the inevitable 
demands of the butcher, the baker, the grocer, the tailor, the 
dressmaker, and — the doctor. He must drudge and drudge, 
month in and month out, with the moral certainty, unless he 
be a Wilkins Micawber, that there won't be a cent left on 
hand at the end of the year. Then, perhaps comes the land- 
lord with the pleasing intelligence that the rent will be in- 
creased for the coming year. Our poor fellow must needs 
look up another house, and so, from year to year, he worries 
along, his children and wife, forming no established home 
associations, himself feeling no more interested in his tem- 
porary domicil, than the belated wayfarer does in the tavern 
in which he has sought an over-night shelter. 

But now, on the other hand, see what his two thousand 
dollars a year might be doing for him. Somebody tells him 
of a httle book called*' Homes on the Midland," and he pro- 
cures a copy. He sees that for fifty dollars or less per annum 
he can buy a commutation ticket to some one of the beauti- 
ful New Jersey villages of which he has heard and read so 
often. But this is not all ; he finds that for four or five hun- 
dred dollars he can rent at any of those points a house fully 
as large as the one for which he now pays twice that sum, 
or, better still, if he wants to purchase a home for himself, 
he can do so for two or three thousand dollars, paying down 
a trifling sum to begin with, and letting the rent money apply 
in payment until the whole price is paid. " There," he ex- 
claims, " why should we stay in town with such an offer as 
that ?" and the next year finds him clear of city landlords, 
living in a neat cottage of his own, cultivating a garden. 



HOMES ON THE MIDI>AND. 7 

keeping chickens, and perhaps a cow; his family happy and 
healthy, and himself, doing what he has never been able to 
do before, saving money. 

'J'his has been the experience of hundreds of young men, 
since the facilities for steamboat and railway communication 
threw open as places of residence the locations mentioned, and 
many of our thriving well-to-do citizens date their prosperity 
from the time when they first exchanged a city for a country 
home. But economy is by no means the only inducement 
which the exchange offers. We may also look at it in the 
matter of 

Health. 

To many indeed this view of the subject would be the first 
consideration. The man who has to fight the wolf outside 
his door, and sickness and disease within, stands but a poor 
chance of making any headway. While it is impossible to 
state the precise comparative ratio of mortality in the city of 
New York to that in the adjacent country districts, the fact is. 
patent that all causes combine to render the latter locality 
far preferable in a sanitary point of view. 

There are no gutters exhaling poisonous miasmas, no 
streets reeking with garbage, no badly conducted markets 
with their decaying vegetable matter diffusing sickness and 
death upon the air, no watered milk, no tainted meat, no 
impure croton, none of the thousand and one frauds aiid 
adulterations which, the physicians tell us, annually carry off 
so many little ones in the metropolis. No, not one of these, 
but in their stead, a pure, Heaven-sent atmosphere^ fresh from 
the woods and meadows, laden with fragrant odors, and 
bringing new vigor and hope to all who inhale it ; clear 
sparkling water, fresh fruits and vegetables, rich milk, new 
laid eggs, rosy cheeks, a hearty appetite, and no doctors bills 
to pay. That's the balance sheet in the account of City with 



8 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

Country on the score of health, and it rests with the reader 
to say to the credit of which one of the two the balance rests. 
Then again, let the thoughtful reader consider this matter 
simply as a question of 

Personal Comfort and Convenience. 
Vis i7terticE is a powerful agency not alone in inanimate mat- 
ter. Men too are badly afflicted with it. The tendency to 
go on as one has been going, just simply because one don't 
want to change, has kept no end of men poor uncomfortable 
drudges all their lives, when they might, if they could only 
have overcome a notion, for it was probably nothing more 
than that, have died millionaires. Ask any one of the thous- 
and weary looking clerks whom you may find riding up in a 
Third, or a Fourth, or an Eighth Avenue Car on a hot August 
afternoon, clinging on to the straps or the platform, the most 
complete possible pictures of discomfort, ask any one of these 
poor fellows (for they are in verity to be pitied) why he daily 
puts himself through such a series of annoyances, and he will 
stupidly say it can't be helped. He submits, as a sort of 
necessity, supposing there is nothing better, because he at 
least has never known it. He will tell you that he lives up 
at Sixtieth Street, say, and that he generally has to stand up 
both ways, the car is so full. 'J'he ride takes him an hour 
each way, too. An hour ! why bless my stars, an hour would 
take you to Paterson, give you a cool ride across the North 
River and a luxurious seat in one of the handsomest pass- 
enger coaches you ever saw. You don't have to stand up or 
have people's elbows and coat tails knocking your eyes out, as 
in the street cars ; nobody can crowd you up or down. No 
sir, here is your seat, and a comfortable one, in which you 
can read your paper, smoke your cigar, chat or snooze, or 
admire the really beautiful scenery^ and get home just as 
soon as you would at Sixtieth Street. 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 9 

Really, reader, there seems to be no need of arguing this 
subject any further. All the argument seems to tend to 
establish beyond a peradventure — ist, that New York busi-* 
ness men should reside out of town; 2d. that New Jersey is 
the place for them, and 3d — well, we shall come to that in a 
moment — for just here, it is only fair to hear what the other 
side has to advance in opposition to our advice to come out 
into the country. They will tell you that they don't like 
crossing the rivers. Pshaw, can you point to a single ferry 
boat disaster on the North River? Not, if we remember 
rightly. Then they say, we can't get along without the Cro- 
ton and gas. But that won't do ; you can have water and 
gas in your house in Hackensack, Paterson or Middletown, 
just as well as you can in Gotham. As for the smaller tov/ns 
those \v)io go there, go with the expectation of giving up a 
few city conveniences to gain other advantages not to be had 
in town. Then, says the lover of city life, " I can't go out at 
nights, if I live in the country." Let him tell his wife that, 
and see what she says — she will tell him just what we do, that 
his place is at home in the evenings. And, says he, how 
about going to the theaters ? Well that's an easy enough 
matter, replies the ruralist, we have a midnight train daily to 
Paterson from New York. 

So after all, the sensible man of moderate means, wlijo con- 
sults Economy, Health and his own Personal Comfort will 
find if he look the matter fully and fairly in the face, in other 
words takes Taurus by the horns, very few, if any valid rea- 
sons why he should keep on paying high rents and doctor's 
bills in town, when he can save money, years and com.fort by 
purchasing a Home on the Midland. 

wSo, resuming consideration of our several conclusions, the 
first of which was, that it is best to reside out of town, the 
second that New Jersey is the region in which to choose 



lO HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

that residence, we come finally to the third and fully equally 
important one, namely, the superior inducements that are 
-offered to commuters and settlers along its line by the Mid- 
land Railway Company. These may be classified thus — 

Cojivenient Depots. — The passenger has the advantage of 
either the Cortlandt or Desbrosses Street depot in leaving or 
arriving in the city. Thus the business man is brought at 
the former within a square or two of the financial and mer- 
cantile part of the city, while up town passengers find regu- 
lar communication by street cars from the latter depot, with 
Broadway and the upper portion of the city. The depots are 
admirably arranged and conducted for the comfort of the 
traveler. Through them daily passes the great tide which 
surges back and forth between the Metropolis and Phila- 
delphia, Baltimore and the National Capital, and the immense 
local travel to and from the thriving towns and cities along 
the line of the New Jersey Railway. To this throng the 
Midland now daily adds her quota of commuters, eager to 
reach the city in the morning, and oh, "so glad" to leave it 
again at night. 

Frequent and Rapid Conununication. — The swift fleet ferry 
boats which connect the two New York Depots with that at 
Jersey City, run every three minutes in both directions, and 
are roomy, neat and well managed in all their appointments. 
From the Jersey City Depot, eight trains are now run daily 
over the Midland, departing at hours best suited to the con- 
venience of men doing business in the city, and residing 
along the line. These trains are run through on time, with 
systematic precision to their respective destination. Pass- 
engers seem especially gratified by the consciousness that 
there is 

No Bergen Tunnel to be passed — No delay of five or ten 
minutes until the preceding train shall have emerged, no 



HOMES ON THE ^^DLAND. II 

bother of slamming down windows, and sweltering (if it be 
summer time) in the dark noisome air for five minutes more; 
none of the anxiety and uneasiness which unavoidably ac- 
company every timid person during a ride of a mile or so, 
so far in the bowels of the earth. The Midland Cars avoid 
this by passing out through Bergen cut, and thence by a 
gentle descent along the western slope of the hill, regaining 
the level of the meadows beyond. 

Luxurious Coaches. — The passenger coaches of the Mid- 
land combine every modern inprovement in upholstery and 
car-building, and are models of comfort and elegance. 

Cheap Commutation Rates. — Mo Railway Company offers 
to its patrons commutation tickets for a year, or even a less 
period, at such reasonable rates (unless it be the Erie Co.) 
as does the Midland. This fact alone will in a year or two 
tell wonderfully upon the travel, and local improvements 
along the line. The short sighted policy of charging resi- 
dents high railroad fares, and ultimately driving them avv^ay 
to settle where they can find cheaper, finds no favor among 
the Midland people. Their plan is to identify the interests 
of purchasers and settlers with their own, and to so co-operate 
with them as to mutually benefit both. With such a spirit 
as this to guide, it is not difficult to forsee the time when the 
whole of the beautiful region adjacent to the Eastern end of 
the line will be dotted with smiling villas, and bloom and 
blossom like the rose. 



But probably the reader can obtain no more practical or 
satisfactory exemplification of the real attractiveness of the 
region traversed by the Midland, than by taking an imagin- 
ary trip over the line. The attentive traveler will find it rich 
in natural beauties, overflowing with rescources, teeming with 
industries, and inhabited by an intelligent, thrifty and hospi- 



12 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

table people and finding all this will rejoice, and with reason, 
that railroad enterprise has brought such a garden spot to 
the very doorstep of the Metropolis. But not to anticipate 
the narration let us start at once. We can cross over from 
either Cortlandt or Desbrosses Street, and take the cars at the 
Jersey City Depot. " All aboard," cries the conductor, the 
bell rings, the engine " toot toots," and the train whizzes 
away, past stores, past tenements, past glimpses of long 
shaded streets, past factories and warehouses and vacant lots, 
to Bergen Cut. There is no tedious stop here — no dark 
dingy tunnel to be passed through. On the one hand ap- 
proaching the cut, one obtains a glorious view of the Bay, 
Staten Island and the distant Atlantic, on the other, the long 
stretch of Bergen Heights, fringed with villas, and close by 
the great stone quarry, whence are obtained annually thousands 
of tons of square block pavement. Scarcely has the vision 
of these scenes died out upon the retina before, emerg- 
ing from the cut, the train dashes past, and in view of 
the United States AVatch Company's works at Marion, 
a beehive of human industry, a visit to which will not only 
afford the intelligent observer a rare insight into all the 
beauties of delicate mechanism and ingenuity, but will, if he 
be an American, flatter his sense of National pride by the 
evidences of system and enterprise and inventive skill which 
it displays. Probably nowhere could an hour or two be more 
delightfully passed by one possessing cultivated tastes and an 
appreciation of the scientific arts, than in following step by 
step the process by which crude pieces of steel and copper 
and brass are by busy hands transformed into time-pieces, 
whose accuracy and beauty of finish have won for them re- 
peated premiums, and made them justly popular and famous 
the world over. (See advertisement.) It is impossible here 
to explain the numerous interesting and varied processes of the 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 



15 




o 



14 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

UNITED STATES WATCH CO, 



TESTIMONIALS. 



Watch No. 1124, Stem Winder— bearicG: Trade Mark " Frederic 
Atherton & Co.. Marion. N. J." — mannfactnred by the United 
States Watch Co., lias been carried by me seven months; its 
total variation from mean time being only six seconds. 

A. L. DENNIS. Prest. N. J. K. li. & T. Co. 



WatcJi No. 1037, Stem Winder— bearing Trade Mark "Frederic 
Atherton & Co., Marion, N. J.' — manufactured by United States 
Watch Co., has been carried by me since June, 18G7; its total 
variation from mean time being only five seconds per month. 

HENRY SMITH, 
Treas. Panama R. E. Co.. 88 Wall St., N.Y. 



Utica, N. Y., Feb. 14, 1870. 
WatrJi No. 2r;i 7— bearing Trade Mark " Fayette Stratton. Marion, 
N. J." — manufactured by United States Watch Co., has been 
carried by me twelve months ; its total variation from mean time 
being fifteen seconds. I. VROOMAN, 

Engineer N. Y. C, & II. K. R. 



Utioa, N. Y., February 15, 1870. 
TFafc/iNo. 1058, Stem Winder- -bearin 12: Trade Mark "Frederic 
Atherton & Co., IMariou, N. J.' — manufactured by United Slates 
Watch Co., has been carried by me twenty months; its total vari- 
ation from mean time being five seconds per montli. 

Z. C. PRIEST, 
Asst Supt N. Y. C. & H. R. R. 



WntcJi'No. 1148, Stem Winder — bearing Trade Mark "Frederic 
Atherton & Co., Marion, N. J." — manufactured by United States 
Watch Co.. has been carried by me eight months; its total varia- 
tion from mean time being five seconds per month. 

JAMES B. RYER, 
Of Keltt & Co., 417 Broadway, N. Y. City. 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 



15 











:B 



ST. JAMES' HOTEL, 

MARION, N. J. 



wmmi siis mil it immi puis. 

CITY AND COUNTRY COMBINED. 

Jijrc conven'etit and accessible to lower part of the City than 14th St., and 

Conveyances much more Comfortable. 

1^^ Only EIGHT minutes from JKRSEY CITY FERRY (Cortlandt or Des- 

brcsses Sts.); 29 Trains daily N. J. R. R. ; also Three Lines Horse Cars. 



HOTEL AND FURNITURE NEW. 

SPLENDID LOCATION, Fronting on DE MOTT PARK. 

FIRST-CLASS TABLE. 

t^^Eleganfly Furnished Rooms, en suite or singly ; all Modern Improvements, 

Gas, Baths, Hot and Cold Water, &c. 

Permanent Board, $9.00 to $20.00 per week, according to Rooms : 

Transient Guests, $3.50 per day. 



1 6 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

punching room ; the forwarding room, where the plates and 
pinions are prepared and the miscroscopic screws made ; the 
train room, where the chronometer balances, and the wheels 
and pinions are finished, the inside of the watch made, and 
the rough garnets cut into jewels ; the escapement room, 
where all the finished parts are finally put together into one 
symmetrical whole ; the m.otion, jeweHng and dial room ; the 
gilding room, and the hair spring room ; for in each there is 
muchtobeseen that would justify pages of description. Suffice 
it to say that, in all the departments, the order and precision 
and nidety, themselves so essential to a perfect watch, are 
everywhere visible. The grounds about the works are taste- 
fully laid out as a garden, and beyond them, a tract of one 
hundred acres, stretching away to the banks of the Hacken- 
sack River, has, under the fortunate ownership of the Com- 
pany, been converted into one of the most charming of parks, 
facing which, and at a point commanding a delightful view 
of the surrounding country, stands the stately St. James* 
Hotel, (see cut and advertisement) also erected by the 
Company, and annually a favorite resort of a refined and 
select circle of guests. But, as in passing we catch a 
glimpse of this attractive spot, the train suddenly 
switches oft to the northward, skirts the western slope of the 
Bergen Hill, passing gardens and villas, and half opened 
streets, crosses successively the tracks of the Morris and Essex 
and the Erie Railways, (at which latter point immense abut- 
ments have been constructed in order to so raise the grade 
as to obviate the necessity of coming to a stop before cross- 
ing), and then with a shriek, and a roar, and a whistle, rushes 
along up the Jersey meadow land, like a loosened charger 
eager for the goal. Here the track lies side by side, parallel 
for a distance of about four miles (to New Durham) with 
that of the Northern Railroad of New Jersey. Upon the 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 17 

right hand side, the passenger looks out upon the western 
slope of the palisades, most of it under cultivation, and en- 
livened at short intervals by thriving settlements; upon the left 
on the Jersey meadows, a vast sea of green, made beautiful, 
if it be summer, by innumerable clusters of brilliant wild 
flowers, dotted here and there by the snowy sails of vessels, 
themselves rendered invisible by the dense growth of grass, 
relieved here and there by ridges of uncultivated land sur- 
mounted by cosy homesteads, and bounded in the distance 
by the blue hills of Bergen County. This is the first scene 
in the panorama, and he must be stolid indeed who can view 
it for the first time without an exclamation of delight. 

In a few moments, (for four miles are quickly passed on 
the level meadows) the whistle blows and the train stops at 

NEW DURHAM, 

■ (6)4 miles ; 26 min. 6 trains each way daily.) 

A village situated on the hill side and possessing importance 
as a place in which market gardening is carried on to a con- 
siderable extent. Land here is very fertile and commands from 
two to four hundred dollars per lot. The residents find in 
their increased railroad facilities, consequent upon the 
advent of the Midland, and in the more convenient com- 
munication with Cortlandt Street and Fulton market, thereby 
aftbrded abundant reason for prophesying a steady local 
growth and an increase of travel over the new line from this 
point. Thus far we have been running almost due north, 
but beyond New Durham, the line trends off to the westward, 
still keeping the level of the meadows, and affording on the 
right hand side, a view of English Neighborhood (or Fair 
View) and Englewood in the distance, making up a bit of 
landscape scenery, in which groves, a church spire or two, 
numerous villas and a long stretch of cultivated upland com- 



1 8 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

bine to attract and charm the observer's attention. Now, 
with a clear straight track stretching far ahead into the dis- 
tance, the train rushes onward at a rapid ]:)ace, stops a 
moment at the drawbridge at English Creek, a navigable 
stream by which Englewood enjoys communication by v/ater 
with the city, then hurries on again, reaches and skirts the 
shores of the Hackensack, lined with ice houses and brick 
yards, and mills and factories, and in a few moments more 
comes to a stop under some grand old trees at the newly 
erected depot at 

RIDGEFIELD PARK. 

(ii miles ; 33 minutes. 6 trains each way daily.) 

One cannot but be forcibly impressed with the natural 
beauties of this locality. In front, the silent, placid river 
winds its way through the meadows, its shores hned at fre- 
quent intervals with shops, and factories, and brick yards, and 
numberless other evidences of industry, with here and there 
a decaying, worm-eaten wharf, telling that this is no newly 
settled vicinage. Sloops and schooners, some at anchor, some 
dismantled, some even crumbling to pieces are to be seen 
here and there upon the stream, or half hidden in the sedgy 
creeks or bayous about it. At intervals, a bridge crosses the 
river, and beyond the distant sea of green, an occasional 
tuft of trees or a knoll rises against the sky, to give variety to 
a scene which in its natural characteristics is strangely like 
the lowlands of Louisiana, or in its artificial ones like the 
Netherlands. Seen at sunset from the high ground overlook- 
ing the depot, the view is so peaceful and comforting that 
the thoughtful observer finds himself for the moment permit- 
ted to forget the toil and care of daily life, 

Nor is the view riverward from Ridgefield Park its only 
claim for attention. To the rear the country stretches away 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 1 9 

in fertile undulating farm lands, interspersed with fine groves, 
and traversed by occasional streams, making up a landscape 
intrinsically valuable as the site for a future town. Before 
the completion of the Midland, residents of this vicinity were 
obliged to drive three miles to Hackensack, or four to Engle- 
wood, in order to get the cars for the city, and then ride for 
three-quarters of an hour, or an hour at that. Now, the iron 
horse brings its coaches to their very doors, and takes them 
to Cortlandt street in thirty-five minutes. 

But, aside from its own attractiveness, Ridgefield Park ac- 
quires an additional importance as giving a name to the 
Ridgefield Park Railway, which, diverging northward, a few 
hundred yards beyond the depot, traverses Bergen County, 
parallel to and at an average distance of a mile and a half 
from the Northern Railroad of New Jersey, and passes 
through the thickly populated region hitherto tributary to 
that line only, including Cedar Lake, Schraalenburg, Tappan, 
Clarksville and Rockland Lake. At Tappan, on the New 
York State line, twelve miles distant, the line becomes the 
Rockland Central, passing through Haverstraw, with Fort 
IMontgomery on the Hudson, twenty miles distant, as its ob- 
jective point, whence it will ultimately be prolongated to 
connect at Newburgh with what is known as Ramsay's Rail- 
road, to connect that city with Albany. 

The total length of the projected hne will be about forty- 
three miles, eleven of which will be used in common with the 
Midland between Jersey City and Ridgefield Park. Thence 
to Tappan, stations are to be established at intervals of about 
one mile. One German settlement, christened Frankfort-on- 
the-Hackensack, has even now attained a promising growth. 
The roadway has already been graded, and is ready for the 
rails, and the projectors expect to have trains running to 
Haverstraw during the present year (1872). As affording a 



20 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

direct access to Rockland La\e and the many desirable sum- 
mer resorts in that county, as also redoubling and increasing 
the railroad faciUties of adjacent residents, the Ridgefield 
Park Railway promises to prove a popular and convenient 
thoroughfare. 

BOGOTA. 

(13 miles ; 43 minutes. 4 trains each way daily.) 

Is situated two miles further up the Hackensack River, at 
the eastern end of the railway bridge on which we cross. 
Whether its name is intended as a souvenir of the Colombian 
capita V or as a delicate compHment to the good old Bogart 
family, who have dwelt hereabout since time immemorial, 
the reader is left to imagine. Certain it is, however, that as 
New York has its Brooklyn, Philadelphia its Camden, Cin- 
cinnati its Covington, and New Orleans its Algiers, so Hack- 
ensack has its transfluvial Bogota, which, if not yet blessed 
with the doubtful advantages of Mayor, Aldermen, and a 
Ring, has yet a bran new neat station house, or depot rather, 
and a pretty little grove for pic-nic parties, and promises, 
with the annual advent of new settlers, to claim its full share 
of growth and popularity as a desirable point for a Home on 
THE Midland. 

Now, crossing the substantial bridge spanning the river, 
we find ourselves at the depot in the very centre of the 
thrifty and growing burgh known since time immemorial as 

HACKENSACK. 

(13% miles ; 45 minutes. 8 trains each way daily.) 

Hackensack had a name and a place in American history 
long before its odd eccentric sounding title figured as to-day 
on the list of New York suburban railway stations. 

* It is actually claimed by residents of Hackensack that the South American 
City referred to derives its name from a Bog:art, a skilled mechanic, who in early 
j3ays emigrated thither, and won a leading position in public affairs. 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 



21 




Cottage to Cost $1,20C?. 
Furnished by Geo. E. Woodward, Architect, 191 Broadway, N. Y. 

This ground over which we are to-day so rapidly hurried 
by the power of steam, was in revolutionary days trodden 
and retrodden by the weary feet of patriots and the invading 
foe. The whole of this region of Northern New Jersey teems 
with historic reminiscences which would require, and in fact 
have occupied, volumes in their reproduction. While such 
consequently would be impracticable here, it will yet afford 
the reader a very fair idea of the scenes enacted about Hack-' 
ensack during " the days that tried men's souls," if we intro- 
duce the following account of the military operations in that 
place, as related by an eye witness, to the author of Barber's 
^' New Jersey Historical Collections." 

''After the evacuation of Fort Lee. in Nov., 1776, and the 
surrender of Fort Washington to the British, Washington, at 
the head of his army, consisting only of about 3000 men, 
having sent on his baggage to Acquackanonck (now Passaic) 
crossed the New Bridge into the town. It was about dusk 
when the head of the troops entered Hackensack. The night 



2 2 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

was cold, dark and rainy, but I had a fair view of them from 
the Hght of the windows, as they passed on our side of the 
street. They marched two abreast, looked ragged, some 
without a shoe to their feet, and most of them wrapped in 
their blankets. Washington then, and for some time previous, 
had his head-quarters at the residence of Mr. Peter Zabriskie, 
a private house, the supplies for the General's table being 
furnished by Mr. Archibald Campbell, the tavern keeper. 
The next evening after the Americans had passed through, 
the British were encamped on the opposite side of the river. 
We could see their fires about loo yards apart, gleaming 
brilliantly in the gloom of the night, extending some distance 
below the town, and more than a mile up toward the New 
Bridge. Washington was still at his quarters, and had with 
him his suite, life-guards, a company of foot, a regiment of 
cavalry and some soldiers from the rear of the army. In the 
morning, before the General left, he rode down to the dock 
where the biidge now is, viewed the enemy's encampment 
about ten or fifteen minutes, and then returned to Mr. Camp- 
bell's door, and called for some wine and water. After he had 
drunk, and when Mr. Campbell was taking the glass from him, 
the latter, with tears streaming down his face, said ' General,' 
what shall I do ; I have a family of small children and a little 
property here ; shall I leave it ? " Washington kindly took 
his hand and replied, ' Mr. Campbell, stay by your property, 
and keep ncuh'al,' then, bidding him 'good bye,' rode off. 
About noon the next day the British took possession of the 
town, and in the afternoon the green was covered with Hes- 
sians, a horrid, frightful sight to the inhabitants. There were 
between 3000 and 4000, with their whiskers, brass caps and 
kettles or brass drums. A part of these same troops were 
two months after taken prisoners at Trenton." 

" In the latter part of March, 1780, a party of about 400 
British, Hessians, and refugees passed through Hackensack 
on their way to attack some Pennsylvania troops at Paramus. 
It was about three o'clock in the night when they entered 
the lower part of the town. All was quiet. A small company 
of 20 or 30 militia, under Capt. John Outwater, had retired 
for the night to the barracks, barns and outhouses, where 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 23 

those friendly to the American cause generally resorted to 
rest. One-half of the enemy marched quietly through. 
When the rear, consisting mostly of Hessians, arrived, they 
broke open the doors and windows, robbed and plundered, 
and took prisoners a few peaceable inhabitants, among whom 
was Mr. Archibald Campbell. This gentleman, who had 
been for several weeks confined to his bed with the rheuma- 
tism, they forced into the street, and compelled to follow them. 
Often in their rear, they threatened to shoot him if he did 
not hasten his pace. In the subsequent confusion he escaped 
and hid in the cellar of a house opposite the New Bridge. He 
lived until 1798, and never experienced a retur?i of the rheu- 
matism. 

" The Hessians burnt two dwellings and the Court House. 
The latter stood on the west side of the green, eight or ten 
rods from Campbell's tavern. Fortunately the wind was 
from the v/est, and drove the flames and sparks over the 
green, and the tavern was saved by the family throwing water 
over the roof. At this time those in the outhouses were 
aroused, and the miHtia hastened across the fields, mounted 
horses, and alarmed the troops at Paramus. By the time the 
enemy had arrived at what is now Red Mills, four miles from 
Hackensack, they ascertained the Americans were on their 
way to meet them. Disappointed, they retraced their steps, 
and, when near Hackensack, turned off to the north on the 
road leading to the New Bridge, to the left of which there is 
a range about half a mile distant, the intervening ground 
being level. There the continentals and militia were hurry- 
ing over, kept, however, at a distance by large flanking parties 
of the enemy, who, on arriving at the bridge, were detained 
about two hours in replacing the plank torn off by the Ameri- 
cans. In the mean time their parties were skirmishing with 
our people. Having crossed over, they marched down the 
east side of the Hackensack, through the English Neighbor- 
hood, being pursued twelve miles to a considerable distance 
within their lines down to Bergen woods. They lost many 
killed and wounded. There were none kiUed on our side. 
A young man of the town was wounded by a spent ball, which 
cut his upper Hp, knocked out four front teeth, and was 



24 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

caught in his mouth. Capt. Outwater received a ball below 
the knee, which was never extracted. He carried it for many 
years, and it was buried with him." 

The foregoing narrative derives additional interest for the 
modern reader from the fact that the Zabriskie residence, 
used by General Washington as his head-quarters, is still 
pointed out, standing on Main street ; and near it also still 
are the tavern and the village green and Court House.* 

Hackensack was originally settled by six or eight Dutch 
families, whose descendants are to-day its principal inhabi- 
tants. It was included in a patent granted by the proprietor 
of East Jersey to Capt. John Berry, and, at the commence- 
ment of the Revolutionary war, contained only about thirty 
houses, including a Reformed Dutch Church, facing the pub- 
lic green, which was first built in 1696 and a second time in 
1 791. In the old church yard adjoining it repose the remains, 
among others, of Brig.-Gen'l Poor, of New Hampshire, who 
died in 1780, and of Col. Richard Varick, ex-Mayor of New 
York, who died in 1831. 

Prior to the advent of the railroads the growth of Hacken- 
sack was slow. In 1844 it had a population of only about 
fifteen hundred, and had communication by a Une of six 
sailing vessels with New York. But to-day it has two rail- 
roads, and a population of ten thousand and upward. Its 
shaded and well graded streets are lined with pavements and 
lighted by gas. It boasts eight churches, two public and 
several private schools, one academy, three newspapers, three 
hotels, a National bank, a State bank, a jewelry factory, several 
carriage factories, a planing mill, and many minor industries. 
In neatness and beauty its streets, gardens and dwellings justly 



* Up to within a few years ago the old tavern sign bearing the words" Hobo- 
ken, Hackensack and Albany Stage Route" was visible to passers by at the 
hotel referred to. 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 2$ 

claim admiration, evincing a care and taste alike creditable 
to the inhabitants, and inviting to the stranger. Indeed, some 
of the villa residences in and about Hackensack are, with 
reason, referred to with a sort of local pride by its people. 
On Teaneck Ridge, a mile and a half above, and soon, by 
the enterprise of its proprietor, to be connected by a horse 
railroad with the town, stands the picturesque mansion of 
Wm. Walter Phelps, Esq., the New York railroad prince, 
who daily finds in this charming and healthful home a grate- 
ful retreat from the oppressive cares of business. And, on 
the left-hand side of the Midland track, a square or two be- 
yond the depot, the passenger will find it well worth his while, 
in passing, to look out upon the model garden and farm of 
J. N. Gamev.^ell, Esq., another prominent New York business 
man, who, six years ago, purchased a tract of about four 
acres, extending through from State street to the Erie track, 
and has gradually converted it into one of the most thoroughly 
cultivated spots to be found in America. A spacious, hand- 
some residence, surrounded by generous verandahs, a wealth 
of rare flowers, and fruit trees and shrubbery, a broad, well- 
stocked vegetable garden, and new and extensive brick hot 
houses (directly facing the railroad) for the propagation of 
rare fruits and flowers ; in short every imaginable appliance 
for beautifying and cultivating a villa residence, combine to 
off"er the passing traveler at this point a view of a model 
home. 

For Hackensack, the Midland, entering as it does at a 
central point, and landing passengers on the principal 
thoroughfare, Main Street, has been a public blessing, and if 
nothing else attested the fact, the large and increasing travel 
by it to and from the Metropolis would sufiice to do so. 
Avoiding intermediate detention and the tunnel, and landing 
passengers at Cortlandt Street in forty-five minutes, it is daily 



26 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

HACKENSACK 

Real Estate 



LOTS 



AND 



BuilcLing Sites, 

(Near the Midhmd Railway Depot) 

— FOR — 

l\SEW YORK BUSINESS MEN 

AND 

In Quantities to Suit Purchasers. 



Address, J. F. GAMEWELL, 

104 Centre St., JYeiv lorlc. 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 2 7 

growing in popularity with commuters, and is already one of 
the busiest, if not the most busy station upon the line. Those 
desirous of investing in property, will find eligible lots and 
plots for sale, (see advertisemetit) at reasonable and easy 
terms. 

Beyond Hackensack, the first great engineering difficulty 
in the construction of the Midland was successfully met and 
mastered, for, overlooking the town from the west, are the Red 
Hills, a formidable obstacle apparently to our further pro- 
gress as we leave the depot. But, without eftbrt, the locomo- 
tive hurries us on by an easy and gradual ascent over a high 
embankment and trestle work, from which we gain a birds eye 
view of the town behind us, the pasture lands below dotted 
with grazing cattle, the Erie track passing beneath our own 
at right angles, then are whirled through a heavy cutting in 
the summit of the ridge, and in a moment more the hill which 
seemed insurmountable is behind us. Thence the track lies 
straight as a die to 

MAYWOOD. 

FORMERLY WEST HACKENSACK. 
{i^% miles ; 47 minutes. 6 trains each way daily ) 

On both sides of the newly erected station building, the 
visitor sees a wide expanse of broad fertile meadow land, 
stretching away to the distant woods, with here and there a 
substantial farm house with its numerous out buildings and 
orchards to vary the scene. There are many eligible building 
sites within five minutes walk of Maywood depot. 

Three quarters of a mile further on is our next stopping 
place, 



28 



HOMES ON rilE MIDLAND. 




Design for a. Residence to cost $ttOOO. 

Furnished by Geo. E. Woodward, Architect, 191 Broadway, N. Y. 



LODI. 

, {15^ miles ; 49 n.inutes. 6 trains each way daily.) 

Previous to the opening of the Midland, Lodi's only com- 
munication by rail with New York was afforded by a small 
branch road, connecting with the Erie at I.odi Junction on 
Hackensack Branch. At Lodi are located the celebrated 
Lodi Chemical and Lodi Print Works, and other manufac- 
turing industries. The village has a population of about 500, 
four churches, good schools, and a circulating library, and 
contains many elegant residences, including " Elmwood," the 
country seat of R. Rennie, Esq. As yet, the Railway Com- 
pany have not erected a depot at this point — the track cross- 
ing the mainroad, which runs through the village, at a distance 
of about a mile from the latter. The general characteristics 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 



29 




3© HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

Sixty Acres 



OF 



HIGH AID BESMBLEvESs 

OVERLOOKING DUNDEE LAKE, 

Only Two Minutes' Walk from Dundee De- 
pot on the Midland Railway. 

Only Fire Minutes' Walk from Horse Cars 
to all parts of Paterson, and 

Only Fifty Minutes' Kicle from Cortlandt or 

Desbrosses Street Ferries. 



Pure Water^ Fine Scenery^ CJi arming Drives^ 
and agreeable surroundings. 



i^@" Terms Reasonable to bona fide Purchasers. 

Address 

JOHN C. HOPKINS, Jr., 

40 Montgomery Street, jersey City, 
Or CORNELIUS VAN RIPER, 

on the Premises. 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND, 3 I 

of the adjacent land vary little if any from those mentioned 
in the description of the last station. The price is about 
$500 per acre. This may be added, however, that along the 
six or seven miles of road lying between Hackensack and 
Paterson there are, in addition to Lodi and Maywood, half a 
dozen choice and desirable locations for the establishment of 
depots and settlements. Property only awaits the advent of 
enterprising capitalists with courage to invest their money, 
and brains to forsee and plan the inevitable success which will 
follow their outlay. 

Crossing Saddle River, an inconsiderable stream scarcely 
worthy its name, we pass through a partially cleared and sparsely 
settled region for two miles or more, until emerging from the 
woods we approach the open country of the Passaic Valley, 
obtain a glorious view of Garrett Mountain in the distance, 
lifting its rugged face against the sky, see already glimpses of 
wide-spread Paterson, and nearer still the winding Passaic, 
and come to a stop at 

DUNDEE LAKE. 

(18 miles ; 57 minutes. 6 trains each way daily,) 

Here, as at most other stopping places, a handsomely finished 
depot has been erected in anticipa-tion of the wants of future 
residents, and from its platform one views a scene of genuine 
interest and beauty. Almost at his feet flows the beautiful 
Passaic, its shores dotted on both sides with lawns and villas 
and boat houses. Straight ahead, the railroad bridge crosses 
it, a short distance below, the " Weasel Bridge," for foot pass- 
engers and vehicles, and on a neighboring hill the eye rests 
upon the smooth shaven slopes, ^vinding paths and white 
marble monuments of Cedar Lawn Cemetery. Looking 
closer, one sees perhaps on the road along the opposite bank, 
a horse car passing up or down, betokening a proximity to 



32 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

city conveniences, or, upon the placid bosom of the river, 
boating parties may on any fair day, be seen enjoying them- 
selves. This is the favorite annual resort of aquatic sports- 
men. Here every year is held the regatta which brings to- 
gether thousands of visitors from Paterson, Passaic, Newark, 
Hackensack and New York. The various boat clubs of the 
first mentioned city have indeed no reason to be ashamed of 
their record as oarsmen. Dundee Lake, as it is called, is in 
reality the Passaic River, which, checked at this point by the 
Dundee Dam, a mile or so below, widens out into a beautiful 
sheet of water which furnishes rare opportunities for boating 
or skatmg according to the season. 

In the immediate vicinity of so lovely a spot as this, the 
establishment of a railway depot, and direct communication 
with New York, cannot fail to bring many desirable settlers, 
glad to exchange homes in the city for others amid surround- 
ings so eminently peaceful and pleasing. 

The advertisement of Mr. J. C. Hopkins, Jr., on a pre- 
ceding page, calls attention to some desirable property for 
sale at this point. 

And now crossing the Passaic, we are within the Paterson 
city limits, and in a moment or two stop at 

MARKET STREET, 

PATERSON. 
(i9>^ miles ;* 59 minutes. 4 trains each way daily.) 

Though yet a mile distant from the city's center, one sees 
on alighting, unmistakeable indications of his presence in a 
great and growing city. The hne of the Willis Street horse 
cars intersects the track at the end of the depot, affording 
frequent and easy communication with the Lake and Cedar 

♦This distanc2 wil! ultimately be reduced to 13 miles b}?^ the completion of the 
projecleJ Weehawken cut. 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. ^^ 

DTODEE LAZE 

Cloice Biiliiiii Lots ait Tilla Sites, 



60 


Lots 


on 


Market Street. 


32 






E. 37th " 


48 






" 38th " 


23 






" 39th " 


36 






" 21st Avenue. 


20 
15 


" Lake View Ave. 

(Late Tisw Ave. & 21st Ave. are eacli 120 !i. wide.) 

" Alabama " 


50 

150 






Kentucky *' 
THE BOULEVARD. 



m, m Miiii!icTiii5 mmii so ms. 

Forming block bounded by Market, East Soth and East 3Gth Sts., 
and 21st Avenue, (Midland Railway.; 

All this property is at or within three minutes walk of the 

MARKET STREET STATION, 

Of the New York midland Railway. 

The MOST EASTERL Y STA TION in PA TERSON. 

S. S. SHERV700D, 

Market St., cor. of the Lake Eoad. 



34 HOiMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

MARKET ST. LAND CO. 

PATERSON, N. J. 

Desirable Building Sites 

Adjoining Marl<et Street Station. 



TEEMS LIBHEAL TO ACTUAL SETTLERS. 



G. A. HOBART, Treas., National Bank Building, Paterson. 
J. W. HEWSON, Cor. Main & Van Houten Sts., Paterson. 
H. WATKINS, 25 Nassau Street, New York. 



DUHBEE LAKE 
T"illa Pilots ! ! 

I have for Sale 

500 ImOTS, 

Froutiug ou ]Jundee and Lake View Avenues, and particularly desirable 
©n account of their high elevation, commanding a most magnificent view of the 
surroundings. 

Lake View Avenue is now open from Market Street to Clifton Depot 
(on the Erie Railway). 

This entire property is unsurpassed in all its beautiful attractions, for de- 
lightful private residences, being within a few minutes' distance of the Lake 
View and Clifton Stations of the Erie Railway and the Paterson Horse Railroad 
cars, within twelve minutes' walk of the Midland Depot, on Market Street, and 
within one hour of New York, giving every confidence in its very rapid advance- 
ment in value. 

I AM SELLING AT VERY LOW PRICES. 

For Maps, and further particulars, please call on me, at my t)ffice, 

19 PRINCE STREET, PATERSON, 

JAMES SIMMONS. 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 35 

Lawn in the one direction, or with Main Street and the 
churches, schools, stores and markets on the other, while, four 
hundred yards south, another line of horse railroad running 
through Market Street, affords similar facilities. The streets 
and avenues, regularly numbered and laid out on the official 
map of the city of Paterson, intersect the adjacent property, 
opening up many desirable lots for building sites. The grand 
Boulevard in process of construction for a distance of three 
and a half miles along the borders of the Passaic River, with 
a width of one hundred feet, finds its southern extremity near 
this point, giving promise to residents of a charming oppor- 
tunity for drives or strolls in that direction. 

There are some rare chances at this point for selecting 
desirable sites for the erection of villas or cottages. The 
Market Street Land Company (see advertisement) own a 
tract of fifty acres, with a frontage of six hundred feet on one 
and eighteen hundred feet on another line of horse railroad, 
and all of it accessible and convenient to the depot, which 
is, by the way, an elegant structure costing $5000, erected on 
the Company's property at the intersection of the Midland 
track, and that of the Vreeland Avenue horse cars. The 
Company are about erecting for sale to New York business 
men, a number of tasteful dwellings, within a few minutes 
walk of the Depot, and will offer them for sale on easy terms 
to bona fide settlers. 

The advertisement of Mr. S. S. Sherwood also calls atten- 
tion to a large variety of superior building lots adjacent to the 
Market Street Depot, including a hundred and fifty which 
front on the Boulevard before mentioned, and extend through 
to the river, thus affording rare facilities for the erection of 
boat and bath houses, by those who purchase and build there. 

Mr. Sherwood also offers lots and villa sites on the line of 
the horse railroad and within five minutes walk of the depot ; 



^6 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

also property conveniently situated for manufacturing pur- 
poses, as will be seen by reference to his advertisement above 
mentioned. 

Nor is this all — property owners in this vicinity are evin- 
cing more than usual enterprise by bringing into the market 
not only the land close to the depot, but other tracts ten or 
twelve minutes walk distant. The property of Mr. James 
Simmons, referred to in his advertisement (which see) is about 
this distance from the Market Street Depot, and consists of 
a strip of sixty acres in area, over two-thirds of a mile in 
length, extending through from Dundee Avenue on the 
Passaic to Lake View Depot on the Erie Railway, thus af- 
fording two lines of connection with New York, as well as 
easy access to the heart of Paterson, by either the Market 
Street, WiUis Street or Trenton Avenue horse cars. Twenty 
four acres of this tract are on the slope overlooking the 
Passaic River, and command a glorious view at every point. 

From Market Street, passing on through a series of newly 
opened streets and avenues, all giving evidence of a rapid 
development and growth in this new section of the city, we 
gradually find the indications of city surroundings increasing 
as we advance ; now the street lamps, and curb stones, and 
pavements, and horse car tracks of Willis Street flash for a 
moment across the eye, the train slackens its speed, and then 
comes to a standstill at 

PATERSON, 

BROADWAY. 

(20 miles ; i hour. 8 trains each way daily. ") 

With a population of nearly forty thousand, with industries 
as extensive and successful as any in America, with a loca- 
tion as picturesque as healthful, with church and school 
facilities of the very best, and with four lines of railroad con- 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 37 

necting her with New York, Paterson may justly claim a high 
rank among the active and enterprising cities of the country. 
Her history, from the day of her foundation to the present 
time, is a history of early toil and struggles and adversity, re- 
warded at length by a crown of wealth and prosperity. In 
1840, her population was 7598. Twenty years later it had 
increased to 20,000, thirty years later to 34,000, and to-day 
she is accounted the third city in size in New Jersey, and the 
thirty-eighth in the United States. 

Paterson was named in honor of Governor William Pater- 
son, who, in November, 1791, signed a charter incorporating 
a society organized by Alexander Hamilton, with a capital 
of one million dollars, for the manufacture of cotton cloths. 
The site of the proposed operations was fixed upon at this 
point in May, 1792, at which time there were not over tei\ 
houses here. A meeting of the directors of the society was 
held at Godwin's Hotel on the 4th of July in the same year, 
and the necessary appropriations were then made for building 
factories and machine shops, and for the construction of a 
raceway to utilize the immense water power furnished by the 
Passaic River. This power indeed was what had decided the 
selection of the location in the first place. 

In January, 1793, Peter Colt, Esq., then State Comptroller 
of Connecticut, was put in charge of the Company's affairs, 
and under his supervision the first raceway was completed. 
The factory was finished in 1794, and in that year calico 
shawls and other cotton goods were printed ; the society also 
appears to have bestowed attention on the culture of the 
silkworm, and directed the planting of mulberry trees for that 
purpose. As a result, the Paterson mills of the present day 
produce the finest silks in America. 

But for a while, misfortune caused a suspension of the 
society's labors, and in 1796 the workmen were discharged 



^g HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

and manufactures abandoned. In 1824, however, Mr. Ros- 
well L. Colt purchased at a depreciated price a large portion 
•f the shares and revived the organization. Since that time 
it has been steadily increasing in stability and effectiveness, 
and now the mills and shops of Paterson furnish daily em- 
ployment to thousands of hands, and send silks, yarns, cotton 
cloths, and locomotives to all parts of the world. 

The well-known tobacco manufactory of Messrs. Allen 
& Dunning, occupying the ground floor of Congress 
Hall, corner Main and Market streets, is also one of the old 
and prominent industries of the city, doing an extensive busi- 
ness, and ranking among the first in New Jersey. 

The Falls of the Passaic, while thus supplying a never-faihng 
source of wealth to the city of Paterson, are, moreover, strik- 
ingly grand in themselves and picturesque in their surround- 
ings. Pouring rapidly over a rocky bed, the vast volume of 

KVERibf hom:e otv the ]m:ii>la]vi> 

Should be warmed by either 

STOVES, RANGES or a FURNACE, 

From the Mammoth Establishment of 

CURRAN, ROGERS &, CO., 

Nos. 75, 77 & 79 BROADWAY, 

New Chnrch Block. PATERSON, N. J. 

Mr. P. Curkan's experience of twenty-five years in the Stove 
business, and more recently as the head of the Cusban Bowebing 
Manufacturing Co., gives him a thorough knowledge of the wants 
of the community at large in this particular, and consequently an 
advantage possessed by few men in the business. 



Plumbing, Gas Pitting, Eoofing and Galvanized Cornices. 

AND ALL WORK IN THAT LINE OF BUSINESS. 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 39 

water plunges down a depth of seventy five feet into a nar- 
row gorge or chasm, walled in by a perpendicular face of rock, 
thence darts off at right angles, foaming and bubbling out 
into a sort of basin, surrounded by high precipitous sides, and 
thence turns again at a sharp angle resuming, on the lower 
level, its original direction. The gorge into which the river 
plunges is spanned by a symm.etrical bridge of iron, on which 
you may stand and obtain a complete view of the torrent, as 
with a deafening roar it leaps into the dark cavernous jaws 
of rock, emerging again covered with feathery foam. 

In one of the crevices of rock near this point are scratched 
in rude letters, various initials and dates, some of the latter 
extending back into the last century. The initials " G. W.," 
with the figures " 1778," are still pointed out as having been 
inscribed there by the father of his country, the revolutionary 
troops having at one time been encamped on the adjacent 
hills. From the brow of the solid rock opposite, Sam Patch 
took one of his famous leaps, and at the same spot sixty years 
ago, a distressing accident happened, resulting in the death of 
an estimable woman and wife, (see appendix A.) 

The grounds about the Falls have been thrown oi)en as a 
public park by their public spirited owner John Ryle, Esq., 
and are a favorite resort as well for the towns])eople as for 
visitors. Upon the heights overlooking the Falls is an obser- 
vatory, from which may be obtained a comprehensive view 
of the entire city and the country on all sides of it. Here 
too is a reservoir for supplying the city, and upon the high 
ground opposite, stand the obehsk, surmounted by a marble 
statue, erected to the memory of the '"Soldiers and Sailors of 
Passaic County," who fell in the late war. 

A visit to Passaic Falls will well repay any one undertaking 
it. Horse cars run directly thither from the Midland Rail- 
way Depot, 



40 



IIOAIKS ON THE MIDLAND. 




VIEW OF PASSAIC FALLS. 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 4 1 

As a place of residence for New York business men, Pater- 
son offers peculiar attractions, as affording all the conven- 
iences but none of the discomforts of city life. Hundreds of 
commuters travel back and forth between it and New York 
daily. The fares are low, the time only one hour, and the 
place itself is healthful, suppHed with good stores and markets, 
well policed and governed, and does not labor under im 
moderate taxation. Some of the streets of Paterson, such as 
Broadway, Van Houten, Ellison, Ward or Church Streets, 
are charmingly attractive, many of the private residences are 
elegant and costly, the public buildings and markets are of a 
size and importance such as one seldom sees outside of the 
largest cities, the hotels, including that well known old time 

J. A. MORRISSE & CO. 
Real Estate and Insttrance Agents 

jCor. Market and Main Sts., Paterson, X. J. 
OFFicEfe, ^^^^ 202 Broadway, New York. 

Desirable Lots, Plots and Villa Sites, from $200 upward. 

hostelrie, the FrankHn House, are numerous and well kept ; 
and its churches, (comprising all denominations), schools and 
public charities are a credit to its people. Banks, Insurance 
Companies, daily newspapers, a well conducted fire depart- 
ment, a complete system of sewerage, gas and pure water, and 
six Hnes of horse cars from the center to the suburbs, all com- 
bine to render Paterson a city unsurpassed as a convenient 
and agreeable place of residence for New York business men. 
And it may also be here mentioned that those contempla- 
ting the erection and fitting up of Homes on the Midland, 
can make their purchases of material as advantageously in 
Paterson as in the Metropolis, or, perhaps, even more so. 
The spacious lumber yards of Mr. Thomas Beveridge. rank- 



42 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

ing among the largest in the State, and the extensive stove, 
range and furnace works of Messrs. Curran, Rogers & Co., 
(see advertisements,) are well worthy the inspection of in- 
tending builders. 

The coming of the Midland to Paterson, opens a new era 
in the prosperity of the city, first as exciting competition and 
affording a second great avenue of direct communication, not 
only with New York but with the west ; secondly, as opening 
to a more intimate and convenient business relationship with 
it the neighboring towns of Hackensack, Pompton, Franklin, 
and all the many villages in upper Bergen, Passaic and 
Morris Counties; and thirdly, and more important than all, 
in developing and throwing open as eligible city property 
whole tracts of land hitherto remote from any railroad, and 
consequently of inconsiderable value. The Midland has done 
for Paterson exactly what many an aspiring son has done 
with the quaint old homestead of his father, that is, built a 
new addition to it, modernized it, spread it out and beautified 
until it is difficult to recognize the once plain and humble 
dwelling. So too, any one unaccustomed to enter Paterson 
by the Midland would certainly imagine himself, on alighting, 
anywhere but in the old fashioned town which Alexander 
Hamilton founded so long ago. He sees horse cars, street 
lamps, hydrants, and broad straight streets and avenues, quite 
thickly built up already with elegant modern residences, and 
can just discern over the tree tops, the spires and chimneys 
of the older portion of the city, lying in the lower ground or 
valley below. For the Midland enters Paterson on a high 
level, and the atmosphere in the section through which it 
passes is especially cool, healthful and salubrious. The so- 
ciety of the east side, as this part of the city is called, is for 
the most part;" refined and select; the daily wants of house- 
keepers are suppHed by wagons, which call at the doors, the 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 45 

principal thoroughfare, Main street, is within ten minutes 
ride, the view, moreover, inckiding Totowa, Garret Rock, the 
Preakness Mountains, and a glimpse ol the Ramapo range, is 
refreshing, and the adjacent drives and strolls embrace some 
charming spots, overlooking the Passaic River. In short, if 
one would buy in Paterson a " Home on the Midland," let 
him buy it on the east side by all means.* If he prefer it in 
the other or older portion of the city, the horse cars will take 
him thither in ten minutes from the depot, and free of charge. 

Land varies in price from $200 to $1500 per lot, (see J. 
A. Morrisse & Co.'s advertisement published on a preceding 
page). 

Leaving the Broadway depot, the passenger finds himself 
traversing a quite thickly settled portion of the suburbs, and 
can obtain from the left-hand side of the cars an interesting 
view of the northerly portion of the city proper, lying in the 
valley below. This lasts but for a moment however, for the 
train enters suddenly a long and deep earth cutting, and 
emerges at the depot at 

RIVERSIDE.— (Paterson.) 

(2X miles ; i hour and 2 minutes, 5 trains each way daily.) 

While much of the charm possessed by this lovely spot 
consists in its location, (so aptly indicated by its name,) on 
the banks of the Passaic, yet one can really derive but a poor 
idea of its convenience, beauty and attractiveness as a place 
for a home, without alighting and devoting an hour or two to 
its inspection. A handsome ;depot is erected at the spot 
where the track intersects the horse railroad, running from 
the centre of Paterson to some distance beyond this point, 
thus affording the arriving or departing passenger ready and 

* See advertisements of Geo. Brown, Charles A. May, F. C. Van Dyck, and 
Allen & Dunning, published elsewhere. 



.. HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

easy access to or from the depot. The horse cars, it may be 
stated, are admirably run, and make frequent trips between 
Riverside and Main street, the principal business thoroughfare. 

If one loves the bold and picturesque in nature, Riverside 
will gratify his fondness to any reasonable extent. The 
beautiful Passaic, romantic wherever seen, seems here strik- 
ingly so, flowing in a black, sluggish current, between high, 
steep banks, densely covered with cedars, from which peer 
out here and there a chimney, or cupola or verandah, to tell 
that there have been plenty to appreciate and seize upon 
such an alluring spot as this for their home. To the right 
of River street, through which the horse cars pass, lies, now 
partially overgrown with weeds, and fallen evidently into dis- 
use, the old Paterson race track, where, in good old days 
gone by, the many wealthy and jolly patrons of the turf living 
hereabout were wont to wager no inconsiderable stakes on 
their favorite racers. On the left, and opposite, stands, its 
back piazza overlooking the river, and commanding a glori- 
ous view of the country beyond, the spacious private resi- 
kence (containing no less than forty-eight rooms) of Cornelius 
Van Winkle, Esq., whose family were among the earlier 
landed proprietors hereabout, and who, himself, narrates many 
an interesting incident or tradition peculiar to the locality. 
A station further up the road bears this gentleman's honored 
name, and we may have occasion in speaking of it to mention 
one or two of these as narrated by himself. 

But, to return to Riverside, it possesses not only the at- 
traction of high ground, horse cars, excellent water and good 
scenery. More than this, its property-owners are live, go- 
ahead people, and have laid out and graded streets and 
avenues, given, during the past year, four lots for the erection 
of an Episcopal Church, and closed a contract for the con- 
struction of ten handsome dwellings, to be completed by the 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND, 45 

RIVERSIDE 

Bniii Lite k la Sites 



CONVENIENT TO THE 



MIDLAND AND ERIE DEPOTS. 



Horse Cars direct to tlie centre of Paterson 

FIFTEEN MINUTES' RIDE to CHURCHES, SCHOOLS, MARKETS, etc. 



Terms remarkably easy to Actual Settlers, 



ALSO 



BROADV/AY LOTS, 

IMMEDIATELY EAST OF THE MIDLAND DEPOT, 

AND POSSESSING THE ADVANTAGES OF 

High Land, City Water, Horse Cars 

AND 

MAaUIFIOEITT NEIGHBOEING EESIDENCES 

ALREADY ERECTED. 

Address A. WAEHEN, Owner, or | 237 Market Street, 

MWA -.-.-.----- A i ( C>r Bhanch Office 

GEO. BEOWN, Agent, ) Midland Depot, Broadwaj. 



^5 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

first of May, 1873. With the Midland running to their very 
doors, those who have already settled and bought property, 
find themselves at least twenty minutes nearer New York 
than they were a year ago, and find an increase of at least 
twenty per cent, in the value of their places. 

Lots can be purchased at Riverside for from three to five 
hundred dollars each. A valuable tract, owned by A. Warren, 
Esq., and comprising many convenient and beautiful sites 
for homes, will be found advertised on the opposite page, as 
will also some desirable city lots near the Broadway Depot. 

Now, we cross the Passaic River, which is here spanned 
by a substantial and symmetrical bridge of iron ; a few hun- 
dred miles above, or to the left, is the Erie crossing, though 
on a much lower level, and below, to the right, a turnpike 
bridge can be seen stretching across. The Midland over- 
looks them both, and reaching the opposite bank, passes 
along on a high trestle work, under which the Erie, passing, 
crosses it, to the junction, or intersection point of the two 
roads at 

HAWTHORNE. 

(211^ miles ; i hour 8 minutes. 7 trains each way daily.) 

Here we have the singular spectacle of two depots, one 
directly over the other, the Erie below, the Midland above. 
The passenger alighting, descends a long stairway before 
reaching terra firma. It was at this point that, prior to the 
completion of the Midland between Paterson and Jersey 
City, passengers from or for New York, Pompton, Blooming- 
dale, and other points up the road, changed cars. Now, no 
longer subjected to this inconvenience, they are whizzed past 
the station direct to their destination, enjoying, it may be 
remarked, in passing, a fair view of the Erie track, stretching 
westward far below them in a long tangent, until the glisten- 
ing lines of steel seem as one in the distance. 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 47 

Hawthorne, like Riverside, is charmingly situated on the 
bank of the Passaic, and is a rapidly developing locality, 
possessing as it does, the privilege of double railway com- 
munication with the Metropolis and the West. Its name 
was formerly Norwood, until changed two years ago to its 
present, perhaps more romantic one. Many public improve- 
ments have been inaugurated by public spirited citizens and 
property owners, including the opening of several avenues 
and boulevards, and planting of shade trees. Purchasers can 
secure good building sites on streets already opened at prices 
varying from $i 50 to $400 per plot, or in some places as low 
as $500 per acre. 

And now gradually descending from our elevated traclcway 
at Hawthorne, we reach the level of terra firma once more, 
pass the turn table and coaling depot which the Company 
have found it convenient to estabHsh at this point, and are 
off at lightning speed up the valley with the whole cit)- of 
Paterson, its spires, its foundries, its chimneys in full view in 
the rear, the Preakness Hills half a mile to the left, and an 
open undulating farm land stretching away on the right. 
Along the base of these Preakness Hills ran the old Mini- 
sink path or trail, the Indian thoroughfare from or to the 
seaboard, and along this same route extends the turnj^ke 
road of to-day, connecting Paterson with Pompton and the 
intermediate villages. This region is full of old legends and 
traditions, so interwoven with the different localities through 
which our route passes, as to cause justifiable hesitation on 
the part of the careful chronicler before describing precisely 
at what point their narration would prove most appropiate. 
For instance, here we are at 



48 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

VAN WINKLE'S, 

(2314' miles; i hour and 12 minutes. 5 trains each way daily.) 

situated in the center of a beautiful stretch of well watered 
farm land, and named, as before stated, in honor of Corne- 
lius Van Winkle, Esq, of Riverside, who owns much of the 
adjacent property. Now the original name of this section 
extending hence up to a point ten or twelve miles above, 
appears to have been " the Waugarau," a name which would 
at first sight be pronounced as of indubitable Indian origin. 
Not so, however. It is a corruption of the old Dutch words 
signifying " a wagon ride," because the first vehicle or wagon 
ever put in use at the Ponds, a point a few miles above, (and 
owned by the way by Francis Van Winkle, a great grand 
uncle of the gentlemen previously mentioned) caused a lively 
commotion among the Indians, who seem to have lived in 
friendly intercourse here with the Dutch settlers, and made 
them come in from four miles around to enjoy the luxury of. 
their first wagon ride. Hence the name, once borne by the 
entire neighborhood, but now confined to the lively water- 
course which winds here and there through its meadows. 

This particular spot, however, has long been known as 
" The Goffie." Almost any one in Paterson can tell a 
stranger the road to " Der Goffle," but probably but few can 
say exactly where it is or what it means. It is a quiet little 
hamlet, composed of a mill and a house or two, half a mile 
back from the depot. Its name means " The Fork," refer- 
ring to the fork at this point in the stream above mentioned. 
How simple and unromantic these quaint old names seem, 
when deciphered into our hard practical modern nomencla- 
ture. 

But Van Winkle's is a charming place for a New York busi- 
ness man, in search of a Home on the Midland, to visit and 
inspect. Near enough to Paterson to be within easy access 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 49 

of its Stores, schools and churches, and yet possessing all the 
pure air, rural loveliness and fertile soil of the country, it 
offers many genuine features to render it attractive and de- 
sirable, and may, before many years, be counted a thrifty 
and growing suburb of the neighboring city. Land sells now 
at anywhere from $400 to $1,000 per acre. 

After leaving this point, the scenery bears a striking resem- 
blance to that on the Erie Railway at Hohokus — the track- 
way walled in by a solid wall of stone on the left, and 
overlooking a densely-wooded gorge, through which plunges 
a rapid water-course (the Waugarau) on the right. Then 
one catches a glimpse — only a moment — of the blue palisades 
m the distance, and the train stops at 

MIDLAND PARK. 
(formerly godwinsville.) 

(24% miles ; i hour, i6 minutes. 7 trains each way daily.) 

A village of some note, as the scene, in days gone by, of 
extensive manufacturing industries. It has several handsome 
private dwellings, a good public school and a neat church 
(Methodist), and possesses a location which, in point of 
beauty or healthfulness, cannot be surpassed. Nor has pri- 
vate enterprise been slothful in availing itself of these advan- 
tages : a number of citizens have organized a stock company 
(see advertisement on next page), purchased a valuable 
tract of one hundred and fifty acres of land, adjoining both 
sides of the road at this point, and intend to lay it out under 
the title of Midland Park, in the most improved style of 
modern park and landscape gardening, with serpentine drives, 
bridle paths, ponds, rambles and groves, constructing also 
within its Umits a reasonable number of handsome residences, 
which will be put on the market at easy terms. In these im- 
provements the projectors will be aided by many natural 



ro HRMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

MIDLAND LAND CO, 

Midland Park, Bergen Co., N. J. 

AT 

WOJiTJENDYKE, NEW JERSEY, and 

R oms 34, 25 NASSAU STREET, NEW FORK, 



This Company will soon be prepared to offer to the Public the most desira- 
ble Villa bites and Building Lots to bt: found along the Line of the Great 
Midland Railroad. 

The Land is at present a beautiful, natural Park, with the never-failing 
Wagara flowing through the entire propartv, falling over 60 feet in passing. 
The location of Midland Park lies in tha flouristiiug village of Wortendyke, 
(late Godwinsville). This Village must grow rapidly, as it is the end of the 
short trains on the New Jersey Midland, and ail Trains stop. Large machine 
shops are already erected for the railroad purposes, and the largest v^andle and 
Lamp wick Factory in the world is here located, ensuring a growing population. 

The slopes and hill sides surrounding the Business Basin are unsurpassed in 
beauty in the State. 

The attention of parties desiring healthy and lovely Stiburban Homes is 
called to this valuable property soon to be laid out. 

Midland Park is but 20 miles distant from t.e main terminus of the Midland 
Rail Road, and is only 23 miles Irom the Jersey C.ty Depot. 



HENRY SEIBERT & BROTHERS, 

Tie well-Known and entemrisina 




'^^^1^1% ^liMgraphefs & ^'rinter-s 




RAILWAY COUPONS, BONDS, 

and 
©ecnritles of ID very l>esorii>tlori. 

Invite the attention of Bankers and Railway Companies to their recent im- 
provements in this line of work, 
Samples in large quantities and variety, executed by them for leading Rail- 
^ays in the United States and Canada, may be seen at any time at their 

OFFICE, 1S2 n^ILLI^Jfl ST„ 

Ledger Building, ^ New York 

-d// JCinds 0/ Mercantile Blanks Lithographed and Printed to Order. 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 



51 



advantages, such as fine \aews, several running streams, an 
abundant growth of shade trees and a rich, fertile soil The 
opportunity of securing a " Home on the Midland" in such 
a spot, is well worthy of the prospective purchaser's atten- 
tive consideration. 

Beyond the Park the Railway enters a heavy cutfing of 
red sandstone, then skirts the border of the creek before re- 
ferred to, passes the crumbHng ruins of an old mill half 
hidden 'neath the shadows of overhanging trees, then again 
brings into full view the cluster of buildings which form the 
centre called 

WORTENDYKE. 

(26 miles ; i hour, 20 miautes. 8 trains each way daily.) 

At this point are located the engine and repair shops of 
the Company. Here, too, about a quarter of a mile from 
the depot, are the elegant residence and the extensive cotton 
mill of C. A. Wortendyke, Esq., one of the originators and 
the president of the New Jersey Midland Railway, and from 
whom, as may be inferred, the station derives its name. 
Upon this spot Mr. Wortendyke v\'as born, has reared his 
industries about him, and finally seen his well-earned reward 
in the shape of the railroad, bringing increased prosperity 
and life to his very doors. Until within a few years past, 
Mr. Wortendyke was the proprietor of no less than four cotton 
mills within this immediate vicinity. His attention is now, 
however, confined to this one alone, in which he employs 
about fifty hands in the manufacture, principally, of candle 
and lamp wick. Some idea of the amount of labor done 
here during the year 187 1, may be formed when it is stated 
that 250,943 pounds of cotton were used, and 50,000 pounds 
of candle wick, and 250,000 gross of lamp wick manufac- 
tured and shipped during that period. The mill is run both 



52 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 




RESIDENCE OF C. A. WORTENDYKE, ESQ. 



HOMES ON THK MIDI-AND. 




COTTON MILL OF C. A. WORTENDYKE, ESQ. 

by Steam and water, with an aggregate of about 40 horse 
power, has 2,000 bobbins, is lit by gas throughout, and con- 
tains, in addition to the busii^ess offices of the accountants, 
a telegraph and post office. In short, its system and arrange- 
ments appear complete throughout, and the intelligent visitor 
who may be accorded that privilege, will find no little pleas- 
ure in following the fleecy product of the Southern soil 
through the various processes, from the time it leaves the 
bale until that in which it is put up in packages in the ship- 
ping room, ready for the market. 

From the grove upon the eminence overlooking Worten- 
dyke may be obtained a fine view of the surrounding coun- 
try, which, really a part of what is known as Godwinsville, 
went formerly with it under the general name of Newtown. 
There are many desirable building sites within ten minutes 
ride of the depot, to be had at an average price of 700 dol- 



54 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

lars per acre, while lots sell at from $200 to $600. A hand- 
some new depot has been erected, and near it a well-stocked 
store. Mr. Wortendyke has also put up two tasty cottages 
within ten minutes' walk of the station, and is engaged in 
opening a wide avenue, running parallel to, and about three 
hundred yards from the track, both for the purpose of open- 
ing new building sites, and of affording direct communication 
between the depot and Jardine's Grove, or " The Green- 
wood," a lovely spot, about half a mile beyond, known as a 
favorite resort for pic-nic and excursion parties, and fronting 
upon a lake 15 acres in area, where boating and fishing may 
be enjoyably indulged in. 

WYCKOFF, 

(tj}i miles ; t hour, 23 minutes, 5 trains each way daily-) 

Is our next stopping place. Considerable activity is already 
noticeable at this point, in the erection of dwellings, and 
laying out of streets and lots. Some extensive and profitable 
ti'ansfers in real estate have been made, and nearly all of the 
available building lots in the immediate vicinity of the station 
are said to be already disposed of to intending settlers. The 
main road, running west from the depot, passes through a 
beautiful farming land, built up as a scattered village. Here 
we see the old stone church (see Appendix H), with its moss- 
covered tombstones gathered about it, each witli its quaint 
inscription^ of affection and regret ; here, too, a public 
school house, in which. the ideas of the Wyckoff youth are 
taught how to shoot; here, too, the well-known Ramsey 
Hotel, famed for its substantial good cheer the country round. 
Beyond, on a commanding site, is the commodious dweUing 
of Mr. Bergman, a wealthy New York tobacconist, who is 
also erecting a brick tobacco factory close at hand ; and in 
the middle of the wide sweep of valley, up which we can 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 55 

glance as the train leaves the station, stands, all solitary and 
alone, a sort of a wierd, gaunt spectre of the olden time — a 
large antiquated dwelling, three stories high, with gable roof 
and oval windows, known as " Old Aunt Jinny's Tavern,** 
where, before the days of railroads and stages, many a be- 
lated horseman was wont to find food and shelter. 

Farm lands sell hereabouts at from $200 to $350 per aca-e. 
At 

CAMPGAW 

(2gJ^ miles ; i hour and 29 minutes. 5 trains each way daily,) 

it can be bought at even lower rates, the price per acre 
ranging from $150 to $250 per acre, and per lot at propor- 
tionally low figures. A Methodist Church, a school and a 
good country store are among the conveniences alread/ 
estabhshed here. 

CRYSTAL LAKE, 

(soX miles ; i hour and 32 minutes. 5 trains each way daily.) 

is the pleasing and rather romantic name bestowed upon the 
next station at which the traveler stops. The depot has 
been constructed in the very heart of the greenwood at a 
road crossing, and a fine large hotel, the only other building 
in sight, has been put up directly in the rear of it by the 
far seeing energy of Mr. M. Van Iderstine of Paterson. But 
let not the reader suppose that this is all of Crystal Lake. 
Far from it. We are now in the region known as " The 
Ponds," so called from the fact that in the original division 
or laying out of farms in the surrounding country, every one 
of them was found to touch upon or include at least one of 
the many beautiful bodies of water which abound here. 
Crystal Lake (or Franklin Lake as it was called until 
changed, in order to avoid its confusion with Franklin 



56 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

Station further up the Hne) is a picturesque sheet of water, 
nestling among the hills on the Pompton turnpike, about a 
mile and a half to the westward ; and an enterprising capi- 
talist may find upon one or two of the knolls overlooking it, 
very desirable sites for a summer hotel. Many old and 
wealthy families including the Boyds, Voorhis and Dema- 
rests own large tracts, and themselves reside in the imme- 
diate vicinity of the lake. Mr. Hughes, a prominent Pater- 
sonian, has also recently purchased a fine estate in this 
neighbourhood. Land can be bought at the same prices as 
those quoted for the previous station. 
And now nearing 

OAKLAND, 

(formerly yawpaugh.) 

(2x}4 miles •, i hour and 35 minutes. 5 trains each way daily.) 

we see stretching away to the right before us, the rounded 
tops and wooded rocky slopes of the Ramapo Mountains. 
Three quarters of a mile to the westward stands the old 
" Ponds Church," (see appendix H.) and, as at Wyckoff, the 
intermediate road is built up with scattered dwellings in- 
cluding a stone post office and school house. The land here 
is level and peculiarly eligible for partition and sale in build- 
ing lots. It can now be purchased at from $100 to $250 
per acre, although there is very Httle chance of such mod- 
erate rates remaining permanent. 

The traveler should not leave this point without glancing 
upward to the rocks and thickets of the neighboring 
mountain on the right, and in front of his course, for there 
on a cold and stormy night in the winter of 1869-70 
was enacted a silent tragedy, which has brought tears of 
mingled fear and pity to the eyes of countless little ones 
listening to its recital, when gathered around the warm cosy 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 57 

hearth stone at home. Three little boys, aged eight, six and 
four, sons of poor parents, who lived in a wretched cabin in 
yonder mountains, and gained a livelihood by burning char- 
coal, strayed off from home late one winter afternoon during 
their father's absence. Their mother missed them when dark 
came on, and when her husband returned, a search was at 
once begun. 'But the night was dark and cold, snow was 
falling, the mountain paths were steep and icy, and nothing 
but a father's love and the thought of these Httle helpless 
ones exposed to the pitiless element on such a night as that 
was, could have prompted him to venture forth. A night 
of search was fruitless — then others assisted, and yet in vain 
— then the whole male population of the neighborhood 
turned out, and joined in the search ; some asserted the 
children had been drowned in endeavoring to cross the 
Ramapo, which, in winter fierce and swollen, flows at the 
mountain's base ; others thought they might be safe under 
shelter at some distant house ; a few, to the discredit of 
human nature, vaguely hinted that they were not lost, but 
had been foully dealt with as burdens and cares too heavy 
to be longer supported ; alas ! the third days search told the 
whole sad story — when three little bodies frozen stiff, the 
smaller covered with the ragged coat which his elder brother 
had taken off to wrap around him, were found lying stark 
and cold under the shadow of a rock, where their poor 
weary feet had at last in the storm and darkness found rest 
and the " sleep which knows no breaking." 

And now, crossing the Ramapo, we are whirled along un- 
der the shadow of the hills, a distance of three miles, to 



5^ HOMES ON THE MIDLAND 

POMPTON, 

{24H miles ; I hour and 43 minutes. 6 trains each way daily.) 

One of the oldest settled, as it is one of the most beautiful 
and attractive places in all New Jersey. To really appreciate 
and enjoy these beauties, as well as to gain in a single com- 
prehensive glance the wonderful natural advantages which 
are here offered for the establishment and rapid growth of an 
inland city, let the visitor, after alighting at the depot, ride 
up to the Norton House, (it is proposed to establish a line of 
horse cars thither before long,) a distance of one mile, and 
thence by an easy ascent to the summit of Colfax Mountain. 
In ascending he catches glimpses of the dark valley and 
sombre wild hillsides to the eastward, and, admiring these, is 
little prepared for the magnificent panorama which suddenly 
breaks upon his vision on arriving at the summit. There 
may be grander or more awe-inspiring scenery, but certainly 
in all this world's expanse none more smiling, peaceful and 
prosperous than this wide-spread landscape, which, walled in 
by wooded hills as far as the eye can reach, hes mapped out 
beneath him. Yonder, t(» the right, is the grand old Ram- 
apo Mountain, in front and opposite the Pequannock hills. 
From one valley flows the Wynockie, from another the Pe- 
quannock, each to wander awhile through verdant meadows, 
between banks fringed with willows, and then, uniting, flow 
on as one ; here, too, at the mountain's base, flows the placid 
Ramapo, its waters forming a convenient channel for the 
transportation of coal in canal boats to the Pompton Steel 
Works hard by. Just below where we stand, can be seen, 
nestling among the trees, the old Colfax mansion, where re- 
sided the ancestors of the distinguished statesman who bears 
that name to-day. Here, in revolutionary days, dwelt his 
grand-uncle, Captain Colfax, commander of Washington's 
body-guard, and breveted a Major-General for meritorious 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 59 

services, and in the little square enclosure just adjoining we 
can discern the simple white marble shaft which marks the 
patriot-soldier's final resting place. Far away to the south- 
ward, dotted with hamlets and farm houses, and a church 
spire or two, half hidden among the foliage, stretch the fertile 
Pompton Plains, every foot of soil under tillage, and tra- 
versed not only in all directions by turnpike roads which look 
like threads in the distance, but also by the Montclair Rail- 
way, the whistle of whose engines, hurrying like human crea- 
tures across the distant landscape, comes mingling with those 
of the Midland in a not unmusical cadence to the ear, telling 
of the new life and vigor they have brought to this quiet, se- 
cluded spot. And now, turning to the right and glancing 
northward, we see where the two railways intersect, near the 
old Pompton church. Close by, and almost at our feet, are 
the Pompton Steel Works, with their compact little settle- 
ment of workmen's dwellings about them ; there, too, the 
Episcopal Church, the stores, the post office, the Norton 
House ; there, too, an ornamental iron bridge, costing $ 1 5,000, 
with a twenty-foot roadway and five-foot sidewalks, just erect- 
ed by the county over the Ramapo River, and connecting 
the townships of Wayne and Pompton. 

But, to understand the marvelous detail of this widespread 
picture, one must see it ; no description, however vivid, can 
portray it upon paper ; it would require the brush of a Crop- 
sey or a Church to do it justice upon canvas. But, lovers of 
the beautiful in nature will be gratified to learn that a com- 
pany of gentlemen have purchased this mountain, which is a 
natural park, and propose to erect a $300,000 hotel upon 
its summit, laying out the grounds about it, and throwing 
open to summer visitors a new place of resort, unequaleji, 
take it all in all, in the vicinity of the metropolis. 

One especially pretty feature of Pompton is Arrareek Lake, 



6o HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

or '* Ryerson's Pond," as it is more familiarly called, which, 
winding among the hills for a distance of about three miles, 
finds an outlet at its western end, where it falls picturesquely 
over an immense rock, and loses itself in the Ramapo. From 
the Indian name of this rock, " the Pong-tong," is derived 
the present name of the locaUty. Upon this overhanging 
cedar-clad knoll the sachems were wont to meet in council, 
and here among the evergreens their trails are not yet ex- 
tinct. On the opposite side of the falls may be seen the 
ruins of Peter M. Ryerson's blast furnaces, now dubbed 
" Fort Sumter." Further up on this beautiful lake, where a 
shaded grassy point may be seen projecting, stands " Sunny- 
bank," the beautiful residence of Rev. -Dr. Terhune, whose 
gifted wife, better known to the outside world as " Marion 
Harland," has doubtless been enabled to draw from the 
peaceful scenes surrounding her home many of the gems of 
thought and description which adorn her works. The grounds 
adjoining Dr, Terhune's mansion possess an additional in- 
terest too as having been the scene of revolutionary encamp- 
ments. The saplings bent by the troops to form a sort of 
fence or boundary line have grown up in uncouth fantastic 
shapes to attract the observation of the modern visitor, while 
the plough-share has torn from its hiding-place in the garden 
a cavalry sabre, bearing the mark of the crown on the blade 
and the letters '' V. BEN, (supposed to designate Fifth 
British Engineers,) 647," and the initials " E. L." (probably 
those of its possessor) on the hilt. Upon a neighboring 
mountain may also still be seen the fire places used by the 
troops, and the graves of the mutineers who were executed 
by order of General Howe. (See Appendix B.) An inter- 
esting and readable narration of a visit to this spot has been 
pubhshed by " Marion Harland," under the title of " A Straw 
Ride," in one of the " Sunnybank" papers. 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 6 1 

A short distance beyond Sunnybank, the lake is crossed 
by a bridge, and one sees on an opposite knoll the old 
Schuyler Mansion, originally the property of one of the two 
oldest settlers of this region. (See Appendix C.) Could 
those two brave and adventurous men come forth to-day and 
see the Pompton, to which they came as strangers so long 
ago, now brought within an hour and a half of New York ; 
could they see the growing population of 1500, the churches 
and schools, and scores of summer visitors, and better still, 
the prospects of a rapid development, would it not reconcile 
them to the recollection of the perils and privations they 
endured ? 

The educational and social facilities of Pompton are of a 
superior order, there being a fine seminary for young ladies 
under the conduct of an estimable lady, Mrs. Logan, the re- 
lict of a gentleman once high in the British Consular service, 
and its population embracing some of the most cultivated 
and aristocratic famihes, such as the Ryersons, Blauvelts and 
Terhunes, to be found in the State. 

In short, whether viewing the natural claims of Pompton 
as an eligible spot for a " Home on the Midland," or consi- 
dering its artificial attractions, it must be conceded that no 
more charming or desirable spot for that purpose can be 
found along the entire line. 

About half a mile beyond Pompton Depot we pass the 
crossing of the Montclair Railway, (already in operation 
from Newark to Ringwood, a village in the Wyriockie Valley) 
and still another mile and a quarter further on reach 



63 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

BLOOMINGDALE, 

(36;.^ miles ; I hour and 48 minutes. 5 trains each way daily.) 

Nestling lovingly at the base of the hills which we have 
already seen in the distance from the summit of Colfax 
Mountain. Here the rapid Pequannock finds at last an out- 
let from its long descent, and flows forth into the meadow 
land, eager to join its waters with its sister stream, the Wy- 
nockie. The early history of Bloomingdale is cotemporane- 
ous with that of Pompton, with which it may in fact be class- 
ed as a part of the original Pequannock tract purchased in 
1695, (see Appendix C,) and here to-day dwells an honored 
citizen and true hearted gentleman, Martin John Ryerson, 
Esq,, a lineal descendant of George Ryerson, one of the 
eight original purchasers, and whose family has been since 
that time to a great extent identified with the political, indus- 
trial and social progress of the community. 

Bloomingdale, which Hes upon the river bank, has a popu- 
lation of about five hundred, two churches, an academy, two 
hotels, a post office, and several stores, and, with the coming 
of the railroad, gives promise of increased business growth. 
Land varies in value from two hundred to seven hundred 
dollars per acre. 

WEST BLOOMINGDALE, 

{2jX miles ; i hour and 50 minutes. 3 trains each way daily.) 

Is in reaUty but another connecting point for the village last 
previously mentioned, and is the point also at which two of 
the daily trains from the city find their terminus, the com- 
pany having estabUshed switches and a turn-table here. The 
Newbrough Hard Rubber Works, engaged principally in the 
manufacture of dental rubber, form the prominent business 
feature of West Bloomingdale. It may be stated that at this 



HOMES ON THE MH)LAND. 



65 





RECLUSE FALLS, PEQUANNOCK^RIVER. 



64 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

point the Pequannock, with a fall of eighty feet, furnishes 
an immense water power, and invites the attention of enter- 
prising manufacturers or capitalists. 

SMITH'S MILLS, 

(39 miles ; i hour and 58 minutes. 3 trains each way daily.) 

Is as yet a mere station, with three or four houses, a store 
and a grist mill about it. There is a post office here, how- 
ever, a fact which indicates a considerable population scat- 
tered through the adjacent hilly region. Land is rated at 
not over one hundred and as low as fifty dollars per acre. 

CHARLOTTEBURGH. 

(43 miles, I h. 54 min. 4 trains each way daily.) 

A glance from the station at the surrounding country con- 
veys to the traveler arriving at Charlotteburgh very little 
idea as to where or what that goodly place is. But a ride 
or walk of about three-eighths or half a mile to the south- 
ward along a good road commanding several fine views, in 
which the Pequannock, faUing over a rocky bed, forms a 
prominent feature, brings one to the centre of a village 
charmingly located among the hills, boasting a good store, 
school, and post office, and giving many indications of future 
rapid growth and development. This is Charlotteburgh, or 
Schlottenburg, as it is customarily called by the folk of the 
adjacent region ; and it has a respectable little history of its 
own, dating back prior to the revolutionary days. It 
appears that over a century ago a company occupied these 
parts and established iron works under a patent from King 
George, naming the place in honor of his wife Queen 
Charlotte. During the revolution a detachment of the 
British troops were quartered here, and under their protec- 
tion the furnace was in operation making horse-shoes and 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 65 

cannon balls for the invading army. Out of regard for the 
Hessians, who, it may thence be inferred, were quartered 
hereabout, the name of the village appears to have been 
modified to Schlottenburg, which title, as before stated, has 
been retained in use by many to the present time But 
by and-by the Americans came and the British left, and then 
the works fell into dis-use, until revived in 1839 by Messrs. 
Wetmore & Co., who in turn in 1840 sold them to one 
De C'amp, by whom they were operated until 1866. In 
187 1 the present enterprising owners erected a building for 
the manufacture of specialties in hardware. Notwithstand- 
ing the destruction of the works a short time after their com- 
pletion, the company at once set to work and erected a much 
larger and finer building than the first had been, and are 
now employing a large force, with the intention of soon 
largely increasing it by the removal hither of their two 
other factories, now located in New York and Brooklyn 
respectively. The works are warmed by steam, and lit by 
gas throughout, and in their internal arrangement and con- 
duct show everywhere a gratifying system and foresight. 
The water power, furnished by the Pequannock, is almost 
unlimited in capacity, though the company have only about 
seventy-five horse-power of it in use. Upon the grounds 
adjoining the works the visitor may still see the ruins of the 
old fashioned machinery used by the former possessors, and 
in the store attached to the establishment is exhibited a bar 
of pig iron made at Charlotteburgh, its inscription tells us^ 
some time during the last century. 

A busy little hive of industry is this which we find among 
these wild New Jersey hills. The employes of the works 
inhabit neat cottages along the principal street, and the 
Company will shortly build more for their accommodation. 
Upon a commanding site near the depot the Company are 



66 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

BIDDLE MANFG CO 



Manufacturers of 




iiiwift raiitfliltits 



PLUMBERS' TRAPS, 



&FFi€m m^D W^MMM€^yQM&p 



78 Chainbers Street, 



NEW YORK. 



WORKS at CHARLOTTEBURGH, NEW JERSEY. 



Blacksmithing & Forging in all its Branches. 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 67 

putting up a • new residence for their superintendent, and 
there are several other buildings in progress of erection. The 
impression received by a stranger visiting Charlotteburgh at 
the present time is that of a village waking as from a dream, 
and putting forth evidences of renewed life and vigor. The 
natural attractions of the locality as a place of residence are 
unexcelled, there being several beautiful sites for private re- 
sidences, and a picturesque lake, where boating and fishing 
can be agreeably indulged in. 

The Charlotteburgh Iron Mines, which also form a feature 
of interest and importance here, are exceedingly productive, 
and are worked by a force of about fifty men under a con- 
tract with the Bethlehem (Pa.) Iron Works. (See Appendix 
D.) 

The present population of the village is probably not over 
three or four hundred, but its prosperous and growing indus- 
tries indicate unmistakably its rapid growth to a place of five 
times that number. Capital and labor, working harmonious- 
ly, can accomplish wonders, and they mean to transform 
Charlotteburgh before many years into a miniature Ameri- 
can Birmingham. 

Still following the line of the tortuous Pequannock, w© 
reach, a mile and a half further on, 

NEWFOUNDLAND, 

{44)4 miles, 2 hours. 4 trains each way daily.) 

A point famous among tourists and summer travelers, not 
only on account of its excellent hotel, kept by that prince of 
landlords, J. P. Brown, Esq., but also as being the nearest 
connecting point by stage for that charming mountain resort, 
Greenwood Lake. The village itself, snugly ensconced 
among the hills, has a population of about three hundred, a 
church, two stores, and regular mail facilities. The hotel 



68 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

BROWN'S HOTEL, 

NEWFOUNDLAND, N. J. 

This favorite and well known house having been enlarged and refitted, now 
offeis FIRST CLASS ACCOMMODATIONS FOR EIGHTY GUESTS. 

SUPERIOR ACCOMMOD ATIONS FOR SUMMER BOARDERS. 

An Escellent Livery btatJe is attached to the Hotel, 

For information as to terms, etc., address the Proprietor, 

JOHN P. BROWN, 

Newfoundland, N. J. 



before spoken of is, however, its main attraction, accommo- 
dating eighty guests, and being visited annually by a select 
circle of patrons, including some of the best people of New 
York, Trenton, Paterson, and other neighboring cities. The 
railway company also intend to erect here a large building 
for use as a meal station for the accommodation of passen- 
gers. Land is sold here at from $200 to $500 per acre. 

A ride of nine miles by stage, which leaves the depot on 
the arrival of the morning mail train from New York, brings 
the traveler to 

GREENWOOD LAKE, 

a picturesque sheet of water seven or eight miles long and 
about half a mile wide, lying partly in New York State and 
partly in New Jersey. The Montclair Railway, when com- 
pleted, will carry passengers directly to the Lake ; for the 
present the journey thither is, at all events, an agreeable 
one, there being some glorious mountain scenery along the 
stage road, with a pleasant surprise on arrival at the lakes in 
the discovery of a little steamboat, the '* Pioneer," waiting 
with steam up, ready to start for the hotel landing and places 
further up. This brave little craft, which was constructed in 
New York and brought up overland, seems strangely out of 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 



69 




Desisn for a Cottage. 
To Cost $4,000. Fuiiiisliecl by Geo. E. Woodward, Archi- 
tect, 191 Broatlway, New York. 

place here among the woods and sohtude, and yet gives a 
grateful re-assurance of proximity to the comforts and con- 
veniences of civihzation. There are three hotels at Green- 
wood Lake, each of them doing a large summer business. 



GREEN POND. 

Lying three miles south of Newfoundland, very near the top 
of the mountain which bears its name, is another beautiful 
sheet of pure, clear water, about three miles long, and 1,044 
feet above the level of the sea. As at Greenwood Lake an 
abundance of bass, pickerel, and perch generally reward the 
angler in its waters, and in proper season plenty of game 
can be found on the mountains around it. There is a hotel 
near the lake, accommodating about thirty people. Close at 
hand, at the east foot of Copperas Mountain, is a vein of 
iron ore very largely mixed with iron pyrites, which is known 
as the Copperas Mine, and which, during the war of i8i2-i4» 



70 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

was worked for the purpose of making copperas and red 
paint. 

Among the same range of hills, about three miles north- 
west of Newfoundland, lies Macopin Pond, well known to 
many for its beauty of location and surroundings, and now 
that it is comparatively easy of access, destined to become 
a favorite resort for sportsmen and pleasure seekers. 

OAK HILL, 

(46;^ miles, 2 h. 5 min. 2 trains each way daily.) 

Is as yet a small settlement, with a population of about two 
hundred, and one church. It is delightfully situated at the 
intersection of the Longwood and Pequannock valleys, and 
offers to the intending settler some very attractive building 
sites a.t from $150 to $300 per acre. Beyond the station 
the track, leaves Morris county, again and finally crosses the. 
Pequannock, and enters Sussex county, in which 

STOCKHOLM 

is the first stopping place, or would be but for the fact that 
the company have decided upon the establishment of a 
station midway between it and the next one to the westward, 
bestowing upon the new one the title of the latter. Snuff- 
town, and abolishing altogether the humble namesake of 
the Scandinavian capital. 

By this time it is to be presumed that the careful reader 
has, so far as Midland Railway travel is concerned, got to 
be, to use a pardonable bit of slang, " up to snuff ;" if not, 
he is, at all events, up to 

SNUFFTOWN, 

Ug% miles, 2 h. 10 min. 4 trains each way daily.) 

Which he will find to be a considerable village, with two 
churches, as many hotels, four stores, a post office, and a 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 7'! 

tannery (no political significance intended), and a population 
of about three hundred. Land sells for $200 per acre. 
There are some rich veins of iron ore in the vicinity, and 
along the Pequannock River at this point there are fine 
water privileges to be had, with a fall of fifty feet in every 
three hundred yards And now by a gradual ascent, having 
left the wild valley of the Pequannock, we gain the summit 
of the Hamburgh range, and commence to descend again 
toward the fertile valley of the Walkill. At first there is 
little or nothing in the view to attract the observer's atten- 
tion, but it may be that this fact the better prepares him to 
enjoy by contrast the scene of wondrous beauty which he is 
soon to contemplate. For, as the train emerges suddenly 
from the gap in the monntain top (the only opening, by the 
way, for sixty miles through which the passage of a railway is 
practicable), and turning skirts the mountain side at a height- 
ened speed as if eager to reach the fairer lands at its base, a 
vision of rare beauty breaks upon the eye. Nearly four hun- 
dred feet below lies, mapped out into fields and orchards and 
groves and homesteads, and stretching away north and 
south as far as the eye can reach, the valley through which 
the Walkill River finds its way to an outlet to the mighty 
Hudson. Looking over the intervening wilderness of tree 
tops, the eye first rests upon the village of Franklin directly 
across the valley, with its silvery mill pond, its cluster of 
dwellings, its huge furnace ; then, following up the line of 
the valley to the right, loses itself in the blue hills which 
skirt the northern horizon ; then, glancing to the left, can 
trace the circuitous route by which the railway accomplishes 
the passage of the valley, and returning skirts the opposite 
side. Franklin, when first seen on emerging from the gap, is 
not more than two miles distant in a direct line. But it is 
on a level three hundred and fifty feet lower than the train, 



72 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

and between the two there appears a great gulf fixed. But 
here engineering skill comes to the rescue, and in less than 
ten minutes time the traveler, surprised and delighted, finds 
himself, after a circuit of five miles, down one hillside, across 
the intervening space, and then back again in a direction 
parallel to but exactly opposite that by which he descended, 
safely transported to the spot which a few moments before 
he had seemed to look down upon from mid air. And tlien 
combining with this the wild grandeur of the mountain 
scenery, the grim solitude at Snake's Den, the long cuttings 
through solid granite which occur at intervals along the 
eastern slope, and, sweeter than all, the smiling, peaceful 
landscape below, with its soft carpeting of variegated green, 
dotted here and there with snow-white cottages and red 
barns — one involuntarily exclaims with delight at a panorama 
so extended and beautiful. 
At the foot of the long descent the train stops at 

OGDENSBURGH, 

(563^ miles, 2 h. 45 min. 3 trains each way daily.) 

A sprightly and growing village, with a population of about 
five hundred, a large well conducted school, four stores, and 
two organized religious societies, one of which proposes to 
erect a church edifice during the coming spring. While the 
adjacent county is considered a fine farming and dairy region, 
it is more especially to its mineral wealth that Ogdensburgh 
must, and in fact does, look for its future growth, 'i'he 
locality calls to mind the scriptural words, " a land whose 
stones are iron, and from whose hills thou may'st dig brass." 
A hundred years ago. Lord Sterling discovered here and 
opened the famous zinc mines, which have proved practiv:ally 
inexhaustible (see Appendix E). 

Two miles southward are also the Ogden Iron Mines, now 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 73 

worked by three companies, employing in all one hundred 
and fifty men, and shipping away an hundred tons of ore 
daily (see Appendix F). This ore, prior to the opening of 
the Midland, had to be shipped by rail to Lake Hopatcong, 
and thence via canal to New York. 

From Ogdensburgh, a branch of the New Jersey Midland 
Railway is now in process of construction, by way of Sparta 
and Newton to the Delaware Gap, there to connect with a 
direct line via Harrisburg to the southwest. The judgment 
evinced in the construction of this branch, not solely as a 
direct route for travel, but more especially as tapping the 
Cumberland, Lehigh Valley and Pottsville coal regions, and 
affording thence an easy outlet not only to New York, but 
via Pine Bush and the projected Hudson River Bridge at 
Poughkeepsie to Boston and New England, cannot be too 
highly commended. 

And now, we cross the valley by an embankment, which, 
strange to say. Nature, as if anticipating the need, has thrown 
up with all the skill and precision of an accomplished 
Engineer. The value of this singular formation at this point 
can be best estimated when it is stated that otherwise an 
additional circuit of five miles to get across the valley, or an 
expenditure of half a milHon dollars would have been the 
engineer's alternative. Not over three hundred and fifty 
feet of fining were required to render it a vast earthen bridge 
extending from mountain to mountain. Two large culverts, 
supported by admirable masonry work, afford a passage be- 
neath it for the turnpike and the river respectively, while from 
its summit, as we are hurried across, can be had charming 
views up and down the valley, the latter including the dis- 
tant village of Sparta, with its white church tower peeping 
from among the trees. Now, with a shriek and roar, back 
we go up the valley again, and two minutes more bring us to 



74 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND, 

FRANKLIN, 

ij^X miles ; 2 hours and 40 minutes. 4 trains each way daily.) 

knovYn perhaps more generally as Franklin Furnace, In its 
location and surroundings the village itself is decidedly pic- 
turesque, and the passenger looking from the car window is 
treated to a view which the hand of nature and that of man 
have combined to render striking. Looking upward and 
directly across the valley, he can trace here and there among 
the dense foliage, the line of embankment over which he has 
just passed ; below, his eye rests upon the placid bosom of a 
lake ; nearer still a well traveled roadway, crossing the Wal- 
kill by an old fashioned bridge, and the village tavern beyond; 
up to the left, Mine Hill, with its gaping cavities opened by 
the zinc miners, and on its crest the neat row of brick cottages 
occupied by them. But, a grand centerpiece to the picture, 
and directly in the foreground, stands the Furnace, an im- 
mense structure sixty seven feet high, hned inside with layers 
severally of fire-brick, red brick, clay and sheet iron, and 
ranking in dimensions and completeness with the largest of 
its kind in the country. Adjoining it are the stock house, 
where ore, coal, etc. are kept, and the tower eighty feet high 
by which the proper elevation for dropping the ore into the 
furnace is obtained. The machinery used in connection with 
the Furnace includes 2 blast engines, a working beam, 
weighing 48,000 pounds, 4 fly wheels, each 28 feet in diame- 
ter, a steam cylinder with 9 foot stroke, a blast cyHnder 7 
feet in diameter, 4 blast ovens, and as many boilers, each 70 
feet long, and 40 inches in diameter. The Company are 
working iron mines both here (see appendix G) and at 
Pochuck Mountain, and employ an hundred men. 

The Mine Hill zinc mines (see appendix E) also employ 
a considerable force here. 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND, 



75 



At this point connection is made with the Sussex R. R.^. 
for Newton, Branchville and Waterloo. The population of 
Franklin, which is growing quite rapidly, numbers about one 
thousand. There are a church, a hotel and two stores, and 
land sells at from $500 to $1000 per acre. 

Beyond Franklin, we pass through a heavy limestone cut- 
ting, and then following the line of the Walkill, (which indeed 
runs generally parallel to the road as far as Unionville) ob- 
tain another glorious view of the valley, and of the Pochuck 
and Hamburgh ranges on either side. Admiring the en- 
trancing spectacle, we are suddenly aroused by the whistle 
and bell to a consciousness of approach to the next station, 

HAMBURGH. 

(6i;<^ miles ; 2 hours and 59 minutes. 3 trains each way daily .7 

A quite important village, with seven hundred inhabitants, 
four churches, as many stores, three hotels and a post office^ 
and situated in a fine rolling country, offering many desirable 
building sites. Land is quoted here from one to five hun- 
dred dollars per acre. 

A large amount of lime was formerly made in this vicinity 
from the crystalline limestone quarried on the Edsall farm. 
It went to Paterson, Newark, and other towns, and brought 
a high price, being esteemed for its whiteness and for its 
adaptation to the finer kinds of work. 

Four and a half miles rapid journeying through a cultivated 
section, embracing numerous farms and pasture grounds 
brings us to 

DECKERTOWN, 

(66 miles ; 3 hours. 4 trains each way daily.) 

claimed by its residents to be the richest and most flourish- 
ing town in Sussex County, and the most ifhportant station 



7^ HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

on the Midland between Paterson and Middletown. Origin- 
ally settled by Hollanders, who in search of minerals left the 
Hudson at Esopus, now Kingston, and followed up the line 
of the Walkill, the adjacent country soon became famous on 
account of its fertiUty and comparative facility of access, and 
the infant colony gradually grew and prospered. 

Peter Decker, a man of enterprise and energy, and for 
many years a magistrate, built the first house in Deckertown 
in 1734. He was followed shortly after by two others named 
Winfield and Cortracht, who also built, and thereafter immi- 
gration into the valley continued. The settlers suffered 
terribly from the Indians, the relations between the two races 
being vastly different here from those friendly ones which 
appear to have existed between the Dutch and the aborig- 
ines in the Passaic and Bergen Counties region. But not- 
withstanding this drawback, Deckertown has always held its 
place as a prominent center in Sussex, and now after a cen- 
tury of feeble progress, has suddenly awakened to the dis- 
covery that in the coming of the Midland, comes a certainty 
of exchanging the gait of the tortoise for that of the hare. 

The population to-day numbers about a thousand. There 
are three churches, as many hotels, a bank, (The Farmer's 
National) a weekly paper (the Sussex Co., Independent) a 
good school, and many flourishing organizations, including 
Lodges of the Masonic, Odd Fellows, Good Templars and 
United American Mechanics orders. The village is especially 
picturesque in its location, and contains several charming 
residences, including those of John Loomis, Esq., Vice-Presi- 
dent of the New Jersey Midland R. R., and of Gen'l Judson 
Kilpatrick, who, moreover claims this as his birthplace. 

Stock breeding is followed here to a considerable extent, 
Goldsmith Maid and Mystic being among the representatives 
of Deckertown on the American turf, and the milk trade is 



HOMES ON THK MIDLAND. 77 

also considerable, one hundred cans being shipped to' New 
York daily. 

QUARRYVILLE, 

(70 miles ; 3 hours and 9 minutes. 3 trains each way daily.) 

The last station at which we stop before crossing the State 
Line, is a small hamlet, which, however, promises to become 
an important point, on account of the valuable Blue Stone 
formation found here. A quarry is in active operation 
under the auspices of the Midland Blue Stone Company (see 
advertisement), of which John F. Kilgour, Esq., the largest 
dealer in Blue Stone in America, is the Manager, and heavy 
shipments are daily made hence to supply the active and in- 
creasing demand in the growing cities of Paterson, Hacken- 
sack and Middletown, and in the neighboring Metropolis. 




Desisn for a €ottas:e. 

To Cost $^,500. Furnislietl by Geo. K. IVoodward, Archi- 

<eef, 191 Broad »• ay, jVe-vv Yoi-k. 

And now, crossing the State Line, we enter the fertile 
farm lands of Orange County, famed for their dairy products 



JS HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

the world over, and see on all sides pleasing evidences of 
agricultural wealth and prosperity. Every meadow is under 
cultivation, and every slope is crowned with its comfortable 
farm house, embowered amid the foliage, and surrounded by 
its bams and granaries and sheds, painted in most cases, a 
brilliant red. The softness of the scene contrasts gratefully 
in memory with the plain ragged features of the iron and 
zinc hills which we have so lately traversed. And yet, each in 
turn has won our attentive interest, as rewarding man's labor, 
and contributing its full share to the support and improve- 
ment of his race. But the pleasant fields and groves and 
stretches of landscape which now begin more frequently to 
meet the traveler's eye, are a welcome assurance of his ap- 
proach to the considerable village of 

UNIONVILLE. 

(73M miles; 3 hours and 15 minutes. 4 trains each way daily.) 

The road as originally constructed from this point to Mid- 
dletown, was a portion of what was known as the Middletown, 
Unionville and Water Gap R.R., having for its ultimate objec- 
tive point the village of Columbia, Pa., situated directly in 
the Delaware Water Gap, and was, after its completion, 
operated as a branch road by the Erie Railway Company, 
until incorporated as a link in the great through line of the 
Midland Railway. The village itself, which is nearly on the 
line dividing New York from New Jersey,* is said to have 
derived its name from a dispute which arose in 1740 on the 
question of boundary lines, the two colonies each claiming 
several miles of territory, the ownership to which had been 
left^ambiguous in the original patent given in 1664, by the 
Duke of York, afterwards King James II, to Lord Berkley 

* Half a mile distant from Unionville stands a house, half of which is in one 
State, the remaining half in the other. 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 79 

and Sir Geo. Carteret. After a serious engagement between 
the contestants, the matter was finally settled in 1757, by the 
respective governments, who divided about equally the dis- 
puted territory. 

Unionville presents a thrifty appearance to the traveler, 
and justly so, for it possesses many citizens of intelligence 
and energy, and with its improved means of access to the 
Metropolis is rapidly growing. Its population is about six 
hundred, and its religious and educational facilities are 
unusually good, there being three churches, an academy, a 
district school, and a superior boarding school — the Oak 
Hill Seminary — under the direction of S. S. Hartwell, Esq., a 
graduate of Yale. 

WEST TOWN, 

(76% miles ; 3 hours and 21 minutes. 4 trains each way daily.) 

On Rutgers Kill, is the centre of a great butter and milk 
producing region, and derives its name from being the most 
westerly, as it is also the oldest, settlement in the township of 
Minnisink. It has about two hundred inhabitants, two 
churches, a hotel, and district and select schools. There is 
also a creamery here, and about fifty cans are daily shipped 
to New York. Land sells for about $125 per acre. 

JOHNSON'S 

ijgX miles ; 3 hours and 28 minutes. 4 trains each way daily.) 

Is principally a milk station, from which about sixty cans 
are shipped daily. The country about, however, offers fine 
opportunities for city people who want to come out and 
show what they know about farming. No need to "go 
west," with so many acres of fertile land waiting to be tilled 
here at the city's doors. 



8o HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

SLATE HILL 

{8i?^ miles ; 3 hour and 38 minutes. 3 trains each way daily.) 

Has about an hundred and fifty inhabitants, and, Uke all of 
us in our infancy, depends principally upon the lacteal fluid 
for its existence, the daily shipment averaging an hundred 
and ten cans. The village contains a church and two 
schools, and is, moreover, important as the connecting point 
for the neighboring village of Ridgebury. 

A ride of a little less than six miles further, through a 
region teeming with agricultural wealth and beauty, brings 
the traveler to the largest town on the line west of Paterson^ 
the embryo and rapidly growing city of 

MIDDLETOWN, 

{87)4 miles ; 3 hours and 50 minutes. 4 trains each way daily.) 

A thriving inland town, or almost city, situated in the very 
heart of the rich dairy region of Orange County, possessing 
a population of about eight thousand, and notable as evinc- 
ing in the character of its public buildings and dwellings, 
the laying out of its thoroughfares, ihe extent of its traffic 
and manufactures, and the push and enterprise of its people 
in all their undertakings, a simple explanation of its steady 
growth and progress within the last ten years toward a rank 
among the chief cities of the State. Indeed, one approach- 
ing Middletown from the east, and viewing the long rows of 
brick stores and dweUings, the solid, compact clusters of 
handsome edifices, the numerous factory chimneys, the 
stately spires here and there towering heavenward, the well 
graded streets, paved sidewalks, and gas-lamps, would im- 
agine himself in the outskirts of one of the large cities of 
the country. A charming spot is this for the New Yorker 
who, having passed the hurry and bustle of life, can afford to 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 8 1 

idlaM Blue Stone Goianj, 

Wholesale Dealers in 

BLUE STONE! 

Have constantly on hand a general variety of 

Stone-Flagging, Ciirbing, Gutter, Cop- 
ing, Sills, Lintels, Steps, Bridging- 
Kock, &;c., &c. 

ALSO, 

FSNE-AXED SILLS, LINTELS AND WATER-TABLE, 

And a general assortment of Stone of all dimensions. 

General Offices, - - Middletown, N. Y. 

General Receiving Yard, - Westbrookville, N. Y. 
Branch Receiving Y'^ard, - EUenville, N. Y. 

Branch Receiving Yard, - Quarryville, N. J. 
General Transfer & Shipping Yard, Suminittville,N. Y. 

The principal quarries are located at and around Westbrookville, 
on the Del. and Hudson Canal, and at Sandburgh, and between Deck- 
ertown and Union ville, on the N. Y. and Oswego Midland R. R., from 
which quarries are developed stone superior to any yet offered in 
the market by competing dealers. It will readily be seen that the 
Company have unequaled facilities for shipping stone both by Rail 
and Water to all parts of the United States. 

For further information regarding prices, &c. , communicate with 



i.Y. 



J. F. KILGOUR, General Manager, Middletown, N. Y. 
J. S. FREER, President, - - EUenviUe, N. Y. 
W. J. GROO, Sec. and Treas., - Middletown, N. Y. 



82 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

devote only an hour or two daily to business, and reserve the 
remainder for the cultivation of his mind amid the beauties 
and comforts of a rural home. Such an one will find in 
Middletown every attraction, every convenience. Churches 
of all denominations are here ; the public schools are con- 
ducted with a liberality equal to that of the MetropoHs, the 
private schools are excellent and select ; there are a pubHc 
lyceum, with a reading room and a well stocked library, an 
opera house, seating nearly one thousand, three public halls, 
four hotels, four newspapers, as many banks, police and fire 
departments, water works, gas works — in short, all the con- 
veniences one finds in New York, with the addition of an 
unusually pure and healthful atmosphere, and facilities for 
procuring the best of fruit, meats, vegetables, and all the 
other necessaries of life at moderate prices. 

No wonder, then, that Middletown, offering such induce- 
ments to strangers, has been and still is growing rapidly. 
Already in the outskirts of the town are to be found some 
of the most complete villa residences in the country. Con- 
spicuous among these is that of Judge Low, situated on 
High Street, a wide handsome thoroughfare extending along 
the high ground in the northwesterly part of the town, and 
about midway between the Midland and Erie Railway 
depots. The grounds about the house are not only taste- 
fully laid out in the most approved style of park and land- 
scape gardening, but are adorned with a rare collection of 
fruits and flowers. The stables and out-houses are commo- 
dious, complete, and well calculated for the keeping of 
poultry and stock. The residence itself commands, even 
from its lower floor, a superb view, not only of the town, but 
of the country for a circuit of fifteen or twenty miles around 
it. To the east one sees the majestic Highlands, and the 
great gap through which, below Newburgh, the Hudson 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 



83 




Desiii'u for an Entrance. 



TREES, SHRUBS, FLOWERS, 





EAST SIDE NURSERY 

(Cob. Gbaham Ave. and Tyleb St.,) 

IP^^TEI^J^OIV, TV. -T. 



The well known Landscape Gardener and Nursery Man, cor. Graham Avenue 
and Tyler Street, Paterson, N. J., would say to his friends and patrons on the 
line of the Midland Railway, that he has on hand and for sale a nice collection 
of Fruit, Shade, and Ornamental Trees. Grape Vines, Small Fruits, Shrubbery, 
and hardy bedding Plants, which he offers for sale at the lowest market price. 
His s-ock is well selected, well rooted, pruned, and cared for; it will give 
satisfact.on. Trees, shipped to any point on the Midland Road, The time for 
Fall Planting will soon be on. All in want of such articles as above mentioned 
should come and see, before purchasing elsewhere. Address 

Cor. Graham Ave. and Tyler Street, Paterson, N, J. 



84 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

passes on to the sea ; to the south are the fertile plains of 
Orange County dotted with hamlets and farm houses, while, 
grander than all, looms up in the west, a picture of rural 
beauty, the cultivated slope of the Shawangunk, mapped out 
into a mosaic of grain fields, and forming a fitting setting 
for the sea of emerald which it encloses. 

The neighboring residences of Gen. Van Wyck and Judge 
Wilkin may also be mentioned as an adornment to this portion 
of Middletown. But not to her private dweUings alone does 
this thrifty little city point the visitor. Some of the churches 
or manufactories will well repay a visit and inspection ; and 
there is much to see and admire in the beautiful " Hillside 
Cemetery," covering a tract of fifty acres in the southwest 
part of the town. Upon a hill adjoining it, a substantial and 
imposing edifice, the Homoeopathic Insane Asylum, is 
shortly to be erected. 

The Midland, entering Middletown from the south, 
describes a long curve to the westward, traverses the north- 
ern part of the town, and lands passengers at two depots, 
namely, at Main and at High street. The travel between 
this point and Ulster County by the Midland is very large, 
and to accommodate this a line of horse cars to convey 
passengers to the Midland from the Erie Railway depot is 
proposed. For the present a line of omnibuses runs in 
connection with all arriving and departing trains. 

From Middletown a branch road extends to the village of 
Pine Bush, a distance of about thirteen miles. But a more 
important projected connection is that shortly to be con- 
structed between the coal fields of Pennsylvania and the 
New England States, passing directly through Middletown, 
and crossing the Hudson River at Poughkeepsie. The 
traffic by this line is destined to give an increased impetus 
to the growth of this promising railroad center. 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 85 

Land in Middletown, of course, varies in price according 
to its location, and it is therefore impossible to give accurate 
quotations. It may, however, be said that building lots on 
well graded, paved, lit, and watered streets, can be had at 
from $450 to $1,000 ; and unimproved property on high 
ground, within the corporation limits, at an average price of 
$1,000 per acre. 

Leaving this populous and attractive town, the road fol- 
lows a northwesterly course, and by a gradually ascending 
grade approaches the Shawangunk, the first great range of 
mountains which, and to all appearance effectually, bar its 
further progress. But here, too, man's skill and energy have 
proved, as we shall see, triumphant, and the parallel lines of 
glistening steel may be followed on through the fertile fields, 
the rocky cuts, the dense wilds, and mountain fastnesses, 
until they bring us safely and easily to the level of the now 
distant valley of the Neversink beyond. The first stopping- 
place, 

FAIR OAKS, 

(91'^ miles ; 4 hours. 3 trains each way daily.) 

Is merely a milk station, although boasting post office and 
hotel accommodations. Another mile and a quarter, during 
which we cross the great bridge over the Shawangunk Kill, 
consisting of two spans two hundred and sixty feet long, and 
at an elevation of seventy-five feet above the water, brings 
us to 

PURDY'S, 

(93 miles ; 4 hours and 4 minutes. 3 trains each way daily.) 

Which derives its name from the proprietor of the nearest 
residence, and from which about twenty cans of milk are 
shipped daily. Land is estimated here at about $ioo per 
acre. Of 



86 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

LOCKWOOD'S 

(giX miles ; 4 hours and g minutes. 3 trains each way daily.) 

Little can be said, other than that, Hke Purdy's, it is the out- 
let for a not inconsiderable milk trade. Just beyond it the 
line leaves Orange and enters Sullivan County, in which the 
first station is 

WINTERTON'S, 

igs}4 miles ; 4 hours and 13 minules. 3 trains each way daily.) 

Lying at the base of the mountain, whose fertile, cultivated 
slopes loom up now directly before us. There is a store 
and a post office here, and good land can be bought at $ioo 
per acre. 

The view which meets the eye between this point and the 
mouth of the tunnel is beautiful beyond description. Di- 
rectly ahead the long range of hillside, rising here and there 
in bolder peaks, bathed in soft haze, stretches away to the 
northward, while below the beautifully diversified valley, 
with its streams, its hamlets, and its meadow-lands, lies 
extended like a map at the beholder's feet. The eye from 
this point can wander over an area of twenty miles, includ- 
ing a glimpse of Sam's Point, a mountain on which is an Ice 
Cave, where through the sultriest summer days the tempera- 
ture is insufficient to melt the ice which the winter has left 
there. In natural loveliness of scenery many will agree that 
this portion of the line is not to be surpassed. But the 
grandeur and variety of the view, its wondrous extent and 
detail, have scarcely been understood and appreciated before 
the whistle sounds our approach to the entrance of the great 
Shawangunk tunnel, at which point is the station where 
passengers for 

BLOOMINGBURG 

(97% miles ; 4 hours and 17 minutes. 4 trains each way daily.) 

Alight, the village itself being located on the Shawangunk 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 87 

Kill about a mile to the north-east, and having three hun- 
dred inhabitants, three churches, three hotels, and a school. 
Land may be bought in Bloomingburg at prices varying from 
$75 to $200 per acre. 

Now on again, and in another moment we are rushing 
through subterranean darkness, amid a deafening racket and 
roar resounding from the rocky ribs of the passage way, 
which years of toil and hundreds of thousands of dollars 
have combined to open through the summit of the ridge. 
We are now two hundred and twenty feet above the level of 
the depot at Middletown, and yet how easily the ascent has 
been accompHshed. The tunnel itself is nearly four thous- 
and feet long, running north-west through the mountain 
through a stratum of blue slate at first, but toward its west- 
ern end penetrating a very hard gray sandstone, to remove 
which nitro-glycerine and diamond-pointed drills worked by 
compressed air were alone effectual. Eager to regain the 
daylight the traveler doubtless finds even the brief moments 
of passage through the tunnel wearisome, but does he reflect 
how many weary hours and days and months were passed in 
its dark, cheerless depths by the workmen who risked health 
and even life to accomplish its completion ? (See p. 89.) 

But if the view from the eastern slope of the Shawangunk 
was beautiful, what words can describe the glory of the 
scene which greets the eye, as emerging from the bowels of 
the earth, the traveler sees stretching out before him the peace- 
ful vale of Neversink ? The road here takes a sudden turn 
to the right (or the north), and one should, in order to obtain 
the best view, have a seat on the left hand side of the car. 
And what a view ! (See p. 91.) A valley nearly two hundred 
feet below, traversed by the glistening Bashur Kill, and walled 
in on its opposite side, not more than two miles distant, by 
the Neversink mountain, beneath the shadows of which 



S8 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

J. P. DOREMUS, 

mmm m portrmt photographer, 

And Dealer in 

Oil Paintings, Chromos, Stereoscopes, 



And all Kinds of 



PICTURE FRAMES, 

2/8 MA IN ST., PATER80N, N. J. 



Mr. Doremus has, in connection with his business, extensive 
facilities for photographing views of scenery, villa residences, and 
other property, at any point on the line of the Midland Railway. 

A Fine Assortment of 

MIDLAND STEREOSCOPIC VIEWS, 

Including those of 

PASSAIO FALLS, POMPTON, BLOOMINGDALE, 

AND 

ALL OTHER ATTRACTIVE POINTS. 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 



89 




WESTERN ENTRANCE TO SHAWANGUNK TUNNEL. 



vpO 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 



oestles here and there a picturesque hamlet ; directly below 
and extending up and dovm the valley, parallel to the 
mountain, which we are about to descend, is the Delaware 
and Hudson Canal, a watery thoroughfare teeming with 
activity, and, before the coming of the railroad, forming one 
of the great avenues of trade and travel through the adja- 
cent region ; and in the center of the charming scene, 
looking, for all the world, in the distance, with its regularly 
laid out streets, its neat houses and churches, and its abund- 
ant shade trees, like one of the toy villages which gave us so 
much pleasure in childhood, is 

WURTSBORO. 

iggM miles ; 4 hours and 27 minutes. 2 trains each way daily.) 

The passenger for Wurtsboro' alights at the western end 
of the tunnel, where, at what is called " The Horseshoe," a 
station is erected, and whence a stage ride of a mile and a 
3ialf down the mountain brings him to his destination. The 
village, which was originally called Rome, but subsequently 
was re-named in honor of the President of the Canal Com- 
pany, has a population of about seven hundred, with four 
hotels, a school, three churches, and several stores. Land 
sells here at from $ioo to $200 per acre. 

As a resort for sportsmen the country about Wurtsboro is 
famous, the mountain abounding in fur, flesh, and fowl, while 
the streams are numerous and well supplied with trout. It 
is said that there are eight private trout ponds in this imme- 
diate vicinity. 

From Wurtsboro station, rapidly descending the mountain 
side for a distance of three and a half miles, we reach at 
length the level of the valley and come to a stand still on 
the bank of the canal at 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 



91 




* This and the other cuts of scenery are engravel from photographs tak 
Doremus of Paterson. (See p. 88.) 



sn by 



92 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

SUMMITVILLE, 

(103 miles ; 4 hours and 37 minutes, 2 trains each way daily ) 

The junction point of the Ellensville branch with the main 
Une, which latter crosses the canal by a bridge one hundred 
and ten feet long, and stretches thence straight across the 
valley, passing through the villages of Sandburgh, Centerville, 
Fallsburgh (the connecting point for Monticello), and Hurley 
to Liberty Falls on the Mongaup River, which has there a 
fall of twenty feet. This is the present terminus of the 
eastern end of the line ; the western end is already in opera- 
tion to Sidney, the point at which the line crosses the Sus- 
quehanna River and the Albany and Susquehanna Railroad. 
The intervening gap of about seventy-five miles will be com- 
pleted and in running order, it is expected, in time to admit 
of the passage of through trains by, if not before, the spring 
of 1873. 

The Neversink tunnel between Centerville and Fallsburgh, 
just west of the bridge crossing the river of the same name, 
is one-eighth of a mile, and the Hawks' Mountain Tunnel 
in Delaware County about one quarter of a mile in length. 
The mere mention of these, and the previous reference to 
the Shawangunk tunnel, will convey to the reader some 
appreciation of the engineering skill which has overcome so 
many natural obstacles and in so comparatively short a time. 

Summitville, though a small village, is a spunky and enter- 
prising one, its people having offered to contribute $50,000 
toward the establishment of the company's shops in their 
midst. As a junction point it is, in any event, destined to 
increase in size and importance. At 

[PHILLIPSPORT 

(105 miles ; 4 hours and 43 minutefj 2 trains each way daily.) 

Canal boat building is quite extensively carried on. The 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 93 

village has a population of about five hundred, and contains 
a church, two schools, a hotel, and several stores. There 
are ten locks in the canal at this point, reducing its level in 
all one hundred and twenty feet. 

A ride of a mile and three-quarters further along the brink 
of the canal, the waters of which teem with boats, giving a 
rare beauty and life to the scene, brings us to the little 
hamlet of 

HOMOWACK, 

(106K miles ; 4 hours and 48 minutes, 2 trains each way daily.) 

A place noticeable, if for nothing else, for its singular title, 
which starting out classically ends up unceremoniously with 
a ''wack." It is a quiet canal village, with about three 
hundred inhabitants, a church and two schools. 

And now we are near our journey's end. Still speeding 
up the valley, the rugged mountain side on the right, the 
canal and the fertile meadows and distant hills on the left, 
we find ourselves in a few moments more at 

ELLENVILLE, 

(III milesj 5 hours. 2 trains each way daily.) 

One of the most important villages in Ulster County, distant 
only thirty miles from the Hudson River at Rondout, and 
displaying, in all its characteristics, unmistakable evidences 
of a thrift and public spirit from which many larger places 
might well take example. 

Ellenville was first settled in 1805. Eighteen years later 
it had but four houses, yet acquired recognition by the 
establishment there of a post office, its name being at the 
same time bestowed in honor of a Miss Ellen Snyder, a 
relative of one of the early settlers. The coming of the 
canal gave ultimately an impetus to its growth; in 1857 
it reached by incorporation the dignity of a village ; and 



94 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

to-day one is surprised to find here among the mountains, 
shut out, until within a year or two, from all but stage or 
canal boat communication with the rest of the world, a min- 
iature city of three thousand inhabitants, its streets ht, its 
sidewalks everywhere paved, its streets named and well 
graded, and its stores, hotels, and public buildings upon a 
scale equal to those of a place of twenty thousand people ; 
and, finding all this, involuntarily asks himself what must be 
the future progress of a town which, unaided by railroad 
communication has done so much for itself. Here one finds 
a good fire department, two first class hotels, six churches, 
two public and several private schools, a National Bank, two 
weekly papers, and a Masonic Hall, which in size and 
elegance of architecture would be an ornament to any city. 
The village is supplied with water from a reservoir built on 
the adjacent mountain side at an expense of $35,000, and a 
gas company is being organized, with a probabiHty of being 
in operation during the present winter (1872-3). The 
industries of the place are numerous and important, includ- 
ing the Ellenville Glass Works (250 hands), the Knife Works 
(50 hands), a foundry and machine shx)p, a pottery, and a 
large tannery. The Canal Company's collectors' and super- 
intendents' offices are also located here, the canal traversing 
the eastern end of the village and being spanned by several 
handsome bridges. Stages run daily to Kingston (whither it 
is ultimately intended to prolongate the Midland branch) 
and to Grahamsville. The social features of Ellenville are 
not among the least of its attractions, its population num- 
bering many wealthy and cultivated famiUes, whose grounds 
and residences, tastefully laid out and adorned, meet the eye 
at intervals here and there. The adjacent country embraces 
some delightful drives and some fine scenery, and near the 
pretty village of Napanoch, two miles north, are the " Honk'* 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 95 

Merchaits' Hotel, 



35, 37, 39 & 41 Cortlandt Street, 



NEW YORK. 



WILLIAM G. SCHENCK. 

Falls, combining the most unromantic of names with the 
most romantic natural beauties. 

Amid such charming scenes, then, as these, reader, termi- 
nates the journey which together, in imagination, we have 
made since leaving the crowded MetropoHs; and looking 
back through the vista of peaceful vales, giddy heights, leafy 
shades, and grassy slopes, whether where the Walkill winds 
its quiet way, the Pequannock babbles noisily down the wild 
hill-sides, or the beautiful Passaic glides downward to the 
sea, does not memory present a picture worth preserving ? 
Nor only this — to be more practical — have there not come 
with the picture certain misgivings as to the advisability of 
living any longer in town while there are so many lovely 
homes to be had out here almost for the asking ? These 
towns and villages that we have seen and admired, are each 
and all of them, more or less, the homes of New York busi- 
ness men. Why not add one more to the number of some 
one of them ? Buy yourself a piece of land according to 



96 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 




I>e.^ign. for a Cottage* 

To cost $8,000. Furiiislied by Gteo. E. WooclAvard, ArtUi- 

tect, 191 Broad *vay, Ne^v York. 

tlie size of your purse or your inclination. Pay for it partly 
in cash, and give a mortgage for the remainder. This done, 
you will find it easy to negotiate on similar terms for the 
construction of a residence. Be it ever so humble, you will 
find, when you come to occupy it as your own, that there is 
no place like it. Then see that your garden is in order, 
raise your own vegetables, keep poultry (they more than pay 
for themselves), by and by a cow and perhaps a horse and 
buggy, rise and retire early, regulate your outlay by your 
income, do all you can to oblige your neighbors, and then. 
Providence giving you continued health and strength to 
labor, it won't be many years before you will be a rich and 
happy man, and bless the day you concluded to buy yourself 
a " Home on the Midland." 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 97 



APPENDIX A. 



"Mrs. Sarah Ciimming, consort of the Rev. Hooper Cummiug of 
Newark, was a daughter of the late Mr. John Emmons, of Portland 
in the district of Maine. She was a lady of an amiable disposition, 
a well cultivated mind, distinguished intelligence and most exem- 
plary piety ; and she was much endeared to a large circle of re- 
spectable friends and connections. She had been married about 
two months, and was blessed with a flattering prospect of no com- 
mon share of temporal felicity and usefulness in the sphere which 
Providence had assigned her ; but oh, how uncertain is the con- 
tinuance of every earthly joy. 

" On Saturday, the 20th of June, 1812, Mr. Cummiug rode with 
his wife to Paterson in order to supply, by presbyterial appoint- 
ment, a destitute congregation in that place ou the following day. 
On Monday morning he went with his beloved companion to show 
her the Falls of Passaic and the surrounding beautiful wild scenery, 
little expecting the solemn event which was to ensue. 

"Having ascended the flight of stairs, Mr. and Mrs. Gumming 
walked over the solid ledge to the vicinity of the cataract, charmed 
with the wonderful prospects, and making various remarks upon 
the stupendous works of nature around them. At length they 
took their station on the brow of the solid rock which overhang^s 
the basin six or eight rods from the falling water, where thousands 
have stood before, and where there is a fine view of most of the 
sublime curiosities of the place. When they had enjoyed the 
luxury of the scene for a considerable time Mr. Cummiug said : 
' My dear, I believe it is time for us to set our face homeward, ' 
and at the same moment turned around in order to lead the way. 
He instantly heard the voice of distress, looked back and his wife 
was gone. 

"Mrs. Cumming had complained of a dizziness early in the morn- 
ing, and as her eyes had been for sometime fixed upon the uncom- 
mon objects before her, when she moved with the view to retrace 
hei stef s it is probable she was seized with the same malady, tot- 
tered, and in a moment fell a distance of seventy-four feet into 
the frightful gulf. Mr. Cumming's sensations on the distressing 
occasion may in some measure be conceived, but they cannot be 
described. He was on the borders of distraction, and scarcely 
knowing what he did would have plunged into the abyss, had it not 
been kindly ordered in Providence that a young man should be near, 
who instantly flew to him like a guardian angel and held him from 
a step which his reason at the time could not have prevented. This 
young man led him from the precipice and conducted him to the 
ground below the stairs, Mr. Cumming forced himself out of the 
hands of his protector and ran with violence in order to leap into 



98 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

the fatal flood. His young friend however caught him once more 
and held him till reason had resumed her throne. He then left 
him to call the neighbouring people to the place. Immediate 
search was made and diligently continued through the day for the 
body of Mrs. Gumming ; but to no purpose. On the following 
morning her mortal part was found in a depth of forty-two feet 
and the same day was conveyed to Newark." — Alden's Collections. 



APPENDIX B. 

In the winter of 1780-81 some of the Jersey troops were station- 
ed part of the time at Pompton. After the successful mutiny of 
the Pennsylvania line at Morristown, a part of the Jersey brigade, 
composed chiefly of foreigners, revolted on the night of the 20th 
of January, and demanded the same indulgence as that given to 
the Pennsyl7anialine. On receiving the information, Washington 
dispatched a body of troops under General Howe to bring them to 
unconditional submission. Thatcher, who accompanied the detach- 
ment, thus relates the circumstances : 

" Marched on the 27th at one o'clock a. m., eight miles, which 
brought us in view of the huts of the insurgent soldiers by dawn 
of day. Here we halted for an hour to make necessary prepara- 
tions. Some of our oflBcers suffered much anxiety lest the soldiers 
would not prove faithful on this trying occasion. Orders were 
given to load their arms — it was obeyed with alacrity, and indica- 
tions were given that they were to be relied on. Being paraded in 
a line,General Howe harangued them, representing the heinousness 
of the crime of mutiny, and the absolute necessity of military 
subordination, adding that the mutineers must be brought to an un- 
conditional submission, no temporizing, no listening to terms of 
compromise while in a state of resistance. Two field pieces were 
ordered to be placed in view of the insurgents, and the troops were 
directed to suri'ound the huts on all sides. General Howe next 
ordered his aid-de-camp to command the mutineers to appear on 
dress parade in front of their huts unarmed in five minutes ; ob- 
serving them to hesitate, a second message was sent, and they in- 
stantly obeyed the command, and paraded in a line without arms, 
being in number between two and three hundred. Finding them- 
selves closely encircled and unable to resist they quietly submitted 
to the fate which awaited them. General Howe ordered that three 
of the ringleaders should be selected as victims for condign pun- 
ishment. These unfortunate culprits were tried on the spot. Col- 
onel Sprout being president of the court martial, standing on the 
snow, and Ihey were sentenced to be immediately shot. Twelve 
of the most guilty mutineers were next selected to be their execu- 
tioneers. Ttiis was a most painful task ; being themselves guilty 
they were greatly distresssd with the duty imposed on them, and 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 99 

when ordered to load some of them shed tears. The wretched 
victims overwhelmed by the terrors of death had neither time nor 
power to implore the mercy and forgiveness of their God, and 
such was their agonizing condition that no heart could refrain from 
emotions of sympathy and compassion. The first that suffered was 
a vsergeaut and an old offender ; he was led a few yards distant 
and placed upon his knees ; six of the executioners at the signal 
given by an officer, fired, three aiming at the head, and three at 
the breast, the other six reserving their fire in order to dispatch 
the victim should the first fire fail ; it so happened in this instance, 
the remaining six then fired, and life was mstantly extinguished. 
The second criminal was by the fire sent into eternity in an instant. 
The third, being less criminal, by the recommendation of his ofii- 
cers, to his unspeakable joy, received a pardon. This tragical 
scene produced a dreadful shock, and a salutary effect on the 
minds of the guilty soldiers. !Never were men more completely 
humbled and penitent ; tears of sorrow and of joy rushed from 
their eyes; each one appeared to congratulate himself that his for- 
feited life had been spared. The execution being finished, General 
Howe ordered the former ofiicers to take their stations, and resume 
their respective commands ; he then, in a very pathetic and affect- 
ing manner, addressed the whole line by platoons, endeavoring to 
impress their minds with a sense of the enormity of their crime, 
and the dreadful consequences that might have resulted. He then 
commanded them to ask pardon of their ofiicers, and promise to 
devote themselves to the faithful discharge of their duty as sol- 
diers in future." — Barlefs Neio Jersey Hist. Collections. 



APPENDIX C. 

The following interesting historical data have been obtained 
from an article in manuscript, written by a reverend gentleman re- 
siding in this vicinity, and entitled " The Early History of Pomp- 
ton and its descendants. 

" But few traditions are left respecting the Indians formerly oc- 
cupying this valley ; they belonged to the great and powerful 
tribe of the Minsi, who held their council seat at Minisink on the 
Delaware, The particular branch of the tribe residing here were 
doubtless what were called the Pomptons, so named from the river, 
and which is said to mean, 'crooked mouthed,' — (in respect to 
these Indian names we would notice in passing, that Pequannock 
signifies ' Dark river and Ramapo 'Round pond.') The Indians 
here, were, it is said in the early days of the settlement, numerous ; 
so that some of the white inhabitants learned their language, and 
occasionally, when they met, would use it in conversation with 
each other. Tradition says they had a few acres of planting 
land near the Schuyler basin , and also that there was an Indian 



lOO HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 



orchard at Peqiianuock, near the residence of Squire Ryerson, and 
some of the large trees still standing there may be of their planting. 

" This ralley was on one of their traveling routes from the sea 
shore to the West, as there was a path called the Minisink path, 
running probably through what is called the Notch, crossing the 
Passaic in the vicinity of the Little Falls, and running along by 
the foot of the hills on the eastern side of this valley to Pompton, 
and from there probably following up the Pequannock toward 
the Delaware. The first purchases of land, of which any record 
has been found, were made in 1095. In that year Major Anthony 
.Brockholst, Captain Arent Schuyler, Samuel Bayard, George 
Reyersa (Ryerson), John Meit (Mead), Samuel JBerrie, David 
Manderville and Hendrick Manderville mutually agreed with one 
another to purchase of the proprietors of East Jersey 5,500 acres 
of land at Pequannock in what was then in the county of Essex, 
and on the east side of the Pequannock river, what is now impro- 
perly called the Pompton river (the Indians claimed the whole 
valley,) and in order to make good the r title from the proprietors it 
was necessary to purchase first the Indian right. This was effected 
oa the ()th of June, 1605, by Arent Schuyler in behalf of his associ- 
ates for ii50 pounds, or a certain quantity of wampum and other 
goods and merchandise of that value. The Indians were unwilling 
to sell the limited quantity of 5,500 acres, but sold all the tract 
lying between the Passaic on the south, Pompton on the north, 
and between the foot of the hills on the east and on the west, the 
deed from them described by the following bounds: beginning at 
the mouth of a small creek in the Indian language called Siukack, 
which said creek is a branch that falls into Pequannock Creek, 
(meaning in all probability at that point, the Passaic,) and lies 
opposite to the great hill, called by the Indians Meetonagkas. ex- 
tending from the said mouth of Sinkack Creek noi'thward along 
the said small creek as far, until it meets with the Indian path that 
goes toward Pompton, called the Minisink path, and so along said 
path towards Pompton Creek (now called Ramapo river, i and 
thence running again northward along the East side of said creek, 
taking in a stroke (or strip) of land on said east side till it meets 
with the falls in the Indian language called "Anaugh," and from 
said falls westward, comprehending all the lowland to the hills, 
called by the Indians '' Hackacckonk, " and then southward along 
the foot of said hills to the great hill by the Indians called ' ' Sim- 
peeck," and from said hill Simpeeck (probably the highest moun- 
tain on the west border of the plain commonly called the mine 
mountain) eastward to Pequannock Creek, till it comes to the first 
station called the mouth of Sinkack Creek before mentioned, as 
more plainly appear by a Map or Card made by the description of 
the said natives, annexed to said deed. 

" Such is the description of the large tract conveyed by the Red 
to the White man. 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. lOI 

" It may not be uninteresting to notice the names of these children 
of the forest (where names have been recorded) on th(! formal 
parchment, and be assured you will recognize in them no familiar 
sounds, or ones easy with correctness to be uttered. Tapgan, 
Ovagnap, Manmin, Wickwam, Rookham, Pauken, Sickaak,Waw- 
ciagin, Onageponck, Neskeglawitt, all of Pequanock and Pomp- 
ton, and Jarapagh, Sachim. of Minisink, for themselves, and as 
being empowered by Payweem, the wife of Great Claes and 
Keshogkamak, some of them doubtless great names in their day, 
and among their compeers, but whose deeds, of which these plains 
may have been the scene in a former age, are unrecorded and un- 
sung, and whose memorial is the simple record of their name and 
title. But we pass on to notice further, the acquisition of land in 
this valley, by the white man, the Indian title having been fairly 
extinguished. 

"Anthony Brockholst and Arent Schuyler on behalf of them 
selves and associates obtained a patent froni the proprietors on the 
11th of November, 1095, for 5,r>(J0 acres on the east side of the Pe- 
quannock river ; this o,.")00 on the east side of the river was divided 
into three patents. The party of five concerned in the first and 
third patents possessed 2,000 acres, which thus came to them in the 
division, and for this they paid to the proprietors of East Jersey 
200 pounds. After this general division, it is probable the respect- 
tive parties divided in an equitable manner the tracts between them 
personally for farms, some of which it is evident have remained 
in their familes through succeeding generations down to the 
present time. It is evident that about this time, probably in the 
Spring of ]()';h; or '!»7, (as in March, 1698, they are said to have been 
residents of East Jersey), Anthony Brockholst and Aient Schuyler 
settled in (his valley on the east side of the river, just below the 
iron works, near to each other; Brockholst on the spot where 
Mayor Wm. W. Colfax now resides, and Schuyler, as near as can 
be ascertained, on the site of the residence of Doctor Wm. Colfax. 
Col. Nicholas Bayard was a merchant of New York, and was the 
father of Samuel Bayard, who is first spoken of as haviug some in- 
terest in the purchase of lands in this valley, hut none of the family, 
that we have heard of, ever resided in this region of country. 
Brockholst and Schuyler were in all probability the pioneers in the 
settlement of this region, and the first to open what was then a wil- 
derness, unless it may have been Jost Beam, the progenitor of the 
family of that name in this region, who had previous to this tinie 
settled at Wynockie. He must have been one of the first settlers in 
the vaUey, as his desendants relate that be came from Germany, 
and settled among the Indians when there was not another white 
family for miles around. 

"Who first explored the country is not now certainly known, but 
probably Arent Schuyler, as it was by him personally that the 
bai'o-ain for the lands was made Avith the Indians. 



I02 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

"Acquackanock was settled about the year 1G80, Fairfield (as it 
was then called " Horseneck,") probably a few years after, and 
next Pompton. The settlers might approach in that direction, and 
by the Indian path before spoken of. 

" The settlement on the east side of the river was made some 
years before any on the west side, as there is no indication of any 
one living on the west side, or on the Plains until some years sub- 
sequent. " 



APPENDIX D. 

Charlottrnburg Mines, in Rockaway Township, Morris County, 
on the south side of Pequannock River, and opposite Cbarlotten- 
burg Forge. The old mine is on the low poiut of land between 
Timber Brook and the forge pond. It was opened slightly in a 
number of places many years ago. The attraction is very exten- 
sive, being about one hundred feet wide, and, in the direction of 
the strike, several hundred feet long. The ore on the surface of 
the old workings is rusted, and has the appearance of an ore con- 
taining sulphur. The mine has been worked to some extent since 
it was visited in 1867. 

Near the same place, on the side hill at the left of the road to 
Split Rock, openings have been made for ore, and a considerable 
quantity has been taken out. The attraction, however, is not very 
strong, (p. 596, Cook's Geology of N. J"., 1868.) 



APPENDIX E. 

Ores of zinc in workable quantities have been found at two locali- 
ties in New Jersey, and at both these extensive mining operations 
are carried on. One is at Stirling Hill, near Ogdensburgh, in Spar- 
ta Township, Sussex County, and the other on Mine Hill, at 
Franklin Furnace, Hardiston Township, Sussex County. 

* « >j< )|t * He 

The Stirling Hill Mine has its outcrop on Stirling Hill, at a 
height of one hundred feet above the valley of the Walkill. It is 
uncovered and explored from its north-east extremity in a direction 
south-south-east, for eleven hundred feet ; thence west north-west 
about three hundred feet, and then curves and runs north north- 
east four hundred and seventy-five feet, when it pitches beneath 
the surface. The breadth of the vein is from four or five feet in 
the narrowest part to fifteen or twenty in the widest part. It is 
owned by three different companies. 

****** 

The largest portion of mineral matter in the vein is a variety of 
calcite, in which the carbonate of lime is replaced by carbonate of 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. IO3 

manganese. The amount of the latter mineral in the gangue rock 
or vein stone is variable. 

♦ * * ♦ * * 

Disseminated through this rock are the minerals which contain 
the zinc. The most important of these minerals are franklinite, 
red oxide of zinc and willemite. 

****** 

The Mine Hill zinc vein has its outcrop on the north-western 
brow, and extends in a south south-west direction from the Ham- 
burgh road to the south-western end of the hill, near the Walkill, 
Here it turns off at an acute angle, and runs in an east north-east 
direction for nearly six hundred feet. 

****** 

The ore consists mainly of the same materials as that of Stirling 
Hill. In color it is usually much darker and duller ; the limestone 
is not so white and pure in appearance ; the franklinite is not usu- 
ally so perfect in crystalline form ; it is more magnetic, softer, 
more reddish in its powder, and dissolves easier in acid. 

****** 

The zinc mines of Sussex County are supplying, perhaps, twenty- 
five thousand tons of ore a year, which is manufactured into white 
oxide and spelter, yielding seven thousand ton« of the oxide, and 
five hundred tons of metallic zinc. The whole product of the 
United States is of white oxide ten thousand tons, and of spelter 
two thousand three hundred tons. This whole business has grown 
up within a few years, and already we produce more white oxide 
than is equal to the consumption of the country, (pp. 669-74. 
— Idem. ) 



APPENDIX F. 

Ogden Mines, in Sparta Township, Sussex County, about two 
miles south-east of Ogdensburg. The first of these mines was 
opened in 1772, and it has been worked at intervals ever since ; 
though, on account of the fluctuations in the iron trade, and its 
remoteness from market, not with the vigor that its magnitude 
would have warranted. The ore formed the chief supply of Hope- 
well Forge. The vein of ore, judged by openings on it, and by 
examination with the miner's compass, extends from the swamp a 
half mile northeast of the old Ogden mine, south-easterly for at 
least two miles ; and veiy strong attraction was observed, and dig- 
gings were being made for ore on the land of J. L. Riker, which 
is fully two miles further in the same range. 

****** 

Dr. Kitchell said that the ore in the Ogden Mine " is of variable 
quality, some being entirely free from foreign substances, while 
with a large proportion of it may be found the constituent minerals 
of the gneiss, and in some cases iron pyrites in small quantities." 
(pp. 6Bl-2.—Idem.) 



I04 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 



APPENDIX G. 



Franklin Mines, in Hardyston Township, Sussex County, near 
Franklin Furnace. There are two distinct veins of iron ore here 
— one in gneiss, which can be traced across the hill south-west of 
the furnace, and one very near the furnace, and across the Walkill, 
and then along the side of Mine Hill, parallel to the zinc vein, and 
only forty or fifty feet from it, quite to the Hamburg Boad. The 
north-west end of it has been found too narrow to be worth mm- 
ing. On the hill south of the furnace there are several places 
where ore has been raised in quantities. The ore is hard, firm and 
quite rich. 

* * * * ♦ ♦ 

The other vein is in the white limestone. Its principal explora- 
tion has been in an old mine on the northeast bank of the Walkill, 
opposite Franklin Furnace ; but it has been opened during the 
past summer (1868) directly under the furnace, and also in two or 
more places on the hill, further south-west. From the mine on the 
bank of the Walkill it runs south-west, nearly parallel with the ore 
in the Tjneiss, and but a few feet from it. 

* * * * ♦ ♦ 

The vein in the old mine was from three to eight feet thick, and 
in the opening under the furnace, was thicker still, though the 
walls were not uncovered at the time the mine was visited, (pp. 
Q08-9.— Idem.) 



APPENDIX H. 

On the 17th of August, 1720, John and William Van Voor Haze, 
yoemen, of the County of Bergen, bought of John Barberie, Peter 
Fanconieve and Andrew Tresnear, merchants of N. Y. City, 550 
acres lying at Wikehoff, in the precinct of Saddle River (Wikehoff, 
as spelt on this deed, is an Indian name). On this tract the church 
of Wyckoff stands. 

****** 

A few extracts from his (William Van Yoor Haze's) will, may 
not be devoid of interest, as one of the oldest wills preserved : 

"I give and bequeath unto my eldest son, Jacobus Van Voorhees, 
the big bybel, for his first birthright, as being my heir at law, and 
I will that my youngest date , which I have by myn dear beloving 
wife, which is named Myrtle Van Voor Haze, dat she shale have 
for her poorshon the sum of £19." 

****** 

The date of the Ponds Church has been placed at 1710 ; but no 
ecord now exists to substantiate it. Tradition says that such 
records were in existence, but have been lost. The first church 
was a log structure, and stood a little north of the present burying 
ground. Whether there was any regular organization or not we 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. Io5 



are uot prepared to prove. Placing the date at 1710, this church is 
the oldest in the northern part of the state, above JPassaic, where 
the church was organized in 1G94, and older than any in Orange 
or Rockland Counties of New York, except Tappan. The founder 
and first pastor was the Rev. Guilliam Bertholf. 

****** 

His successor was the Rev. Johannes Van Driessen, who came 
Sept. 10, 173."). * * When he came the old log church was 
almost gone to decay. The country was settling up, and the peo- 
ple were now able to erect a better temple. This was done — a 
small church was built near the steel works, at the junction of the 
Pequannock and Pompton, on lands now owned by John M. Ryer- 
son, near a ford, to accommodate the people from the Ponds. 
* * This movement did not give satisfaction to the peo- 
ple living around the Ponds, and on the side towards Wyckoff. 
Steps were soon taken to erect a new church, near the present 
residence of Adam Boyd, Esq., on land now occupied as a 

graveyard. 

* « I* * « « 

During the summer of 1780, part of the American army lay at 
the Ramapo Valley. Defences were constructed on the moun- 
tain, in case of a surprise, and between these and the point of the 
mountain, along the sides of the road, the trees were cut partially 
off, so, if threatened with an attack, they could be felled in a mo- 
ment, to block up the way. Washington at this time had his head- 
quarters at the house now known as the Bockee property, then 
owned by a Bogert. Wanney, a slave of Bogert's, who lived for 
sixty years after, said that he had often seen the General at prayer 
in the wood —he secretly followed him to note the cause of his 
retirement. During the war perhaps no part of the country suf- 
fered so little as the quiet Valley of the Ponds. — Extracts from "J. 
Historical Discourse of the Churches of Ponds anu Wyckoff,'' deliv- 
ered December 2a, 1868, hy W. B. Van Beiischoien, Pastor of the 
Church of Wyckoff, JV. Y. 



I06 HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 

CHARLES A. MAY, 

169 Main Street, Paterson, N. J. 

Has for Sale, or ExcMnge, 

BffELLfflGS & BEDIG LOTS 



Eligibly located in the City of Paterson, on the line of the 
horse railroads, and within 

FIVE MINUTES WALK OF THE DEPOTS 

OF THE MIDLAND RAILWA V. 

Also a Miter of Honses and Lots in otlier Dortions of tlie City, 

ALSO, 

AGENT FOR THE REPUBLIC LIFE INS. CO. 
OF oia:ic-A.QO, 

Horse Cars direct to Main St. from Midland Depot. 

Information Relative to Property Willingly Afforded. 

REMEMBER THE NUMBER, 169. 

CHARLES A. MAY, Agent. 



THOMA^S T3EVERII3GE, 

P^TEHSOIV, IV. J. 

YARDS— Ellison Street, and at the Junction of Willis anJ Market Sts. 






V:3 
3 S 




VND LET AIL, DEAI.ee IN 



Lumber, Lath, Lime, Cement, Nails, &c. 



IDOOiRS, EHLIlsriDS, SASIHIES, ETO. 



F-. O. VAlSr IDYK. 



Main Street, 

I'ater.son, N. J. 

PARLOR & CHAMBER 



I 



urniiur^ 



/« Great Variety ! ! 

We have the finest 
show rooms, with 
plenty of light, and 
an assortment of fur- 
niture, carpets, etc., 
not to be surpassed. 

Carpets & Oil Clotlis 

by far the largest 
and best assortment 
to be found in the 
city. Bought for 
prompt cash, and 
sold at closest pos- 
sible prices. 




<S3> oo. 

Upholstering 

In all Us Branches. 

WINDOW SHADES, 

Hollands for Shades 

Fixtures of all 

kinds. Carpets 

made and laid 

at short nc- 

tice. 

WIPOW SHADES 

MADE AND HUNG 

We propose to 
make this a 

COmrLKTK 

House Furnishing 

ESTABLISHMENT. 



io8 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 



ALLEF & DUNNING, 

8U0CESSOES TO 

ALLEN, REYNOLDS & CO. 

Mdnufaci.ure'i s of 

TOBACCO, SNUFF & CIGARS. 

ALSO, THE CELEBRATED 

lYX il, Ix JM U Jjt X ilw TOB Acao- 

IMFORTED SEGARS. RUBBING SNUFF. 

PIPES OF ALL KINDS. PLUG TOBACCO, &c, 

239 Main, and 115 to 127 Market Sts. 



FRANKLIN HOUSE 




A ITACHED TO THIS HOT JL IS 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. ' IO9 

GEORGE BROWN, 

Real Estate Ageut 



MIDLAND DEPOT, ^ ^ m^r^c^r^i^r AT T 

OFFICES, -- PATERSON, N. J. 

' 237 MARKET ST. 



Attends especially to sales of property adjacent 
to line of Midland Railway. 



Has for Sale some of thi 



FIHEST BUILDING SITES 



CITY OF PATBESON. 



Refers to 
JOHN J. BROWN, Esq., - President First National Bank, Paterson. 
C. A. WORTENDYKE, Esq., - Prest. New Jersey Midland RaiiwayCo. 
E. THEO. BELL, Esq., - - Cashier First National Bank, Paterson. 
C. A. HOBART, Esq., Paterson, N. J. 



no 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 



%^ ^^w. >- 










i-^ X .T?.ouxj So-vL£f 



See Index on opposite page. 



HOMES ON THE MIDLAND. 



Ill 



I isr D E X 



PAGE. 

Blootningburg 86 

Bloomingdale , 62 

Bogota 20 

Campgaw 55 

Centerville 92 

Charlotteburg 64 

Crystal Lake 55 

DeckertowD 75 

Dundee Lake 31 

" {view 0/) 29 

Ellenville 93 

Fair Oaks 85 

Fallsburgh 92 

Franklin 74 

Godwinsville 49 

Greenwood Lake . 68 

Green Pond 69 

Hackensack 20 

Hamburgh 75 

Hawthorne 46 

Homowack 93 

H urley 92 

Johnsons 79 

Liberty Falls 92 

Lockwoods 86 

Lodi 28 

Market Street (Paterson) 32 

May wood 27 

Middletown 80 

Midland Park 49 

New Durham 17 

Newfoundland 67 

Oak Hill 70 

Oakland 56 



PACE* 

Ogdensburgh 72 

Passaic Falls {view of) 40 

Paterson (Broadway) 36 

(Market St.) 32 

" (Riverside) 43 

Phillipsport 92 

Pine Bush 84 

Pompton 58 

Purdy's 85 

Quarry ville 77 

Recluse Falls {view of) 63 

Ridgetield Park 18 

Riverside (Paterson) : 43 

Sandburgh 92 

Shawangunk Tunnel (z^/Vw <»/"). . 89 

Slate Hill 80 

Smith's Mills 64 

St James' Hotel, Marion, view of 15 

SnuflFtown 70 

Stockholm 70 

Summittville 92 

U.S. Watch Co.'s Works, view 0/ 13 

Unionville 78 

Van Winkles 48 

West Bloomingdale 62 

West Town 79 

Wintertons 86 

Wortendyke 51 

" C. A„ residence of 52 

" " cotton mill of 53 

Wurtsboro 9° 

" {view of) 91 

Wyckoff 54 

Yawpaugh 56 



[J^^ Persons contemplating the 

PURCHASE, CONSTRUCTION AND FITTING UP 



OF A 



"HOME ON THE MIDLAND," 

can obtain any further desired information 
on the subject by addressing 

GEORGE L CATLIN, 

Publisher ^^Honies o?i the Midland'' 

PATERSON, N. J. 



Orange Sporting Powder, 



ORANGE LIGHTNING POWDER. 

Best Powder made. Sizes, Nos. 1 to 7. Packed only 
in sealed one pound canisters. 

I^Care must be taken to use no finer size than No, a 
in metal shells or fine breech-loading guns, as it is too 
quick for the strength of either. 

ORANGE DVCKING POWDER. 

Expressly prepared for shooting water fowl. Very 
strong and clean. Sizes,^ 1 to 5. In metal ("gold 
band") kegs of 6^ lbs., and canisters of 5 lbs. and 1 lb. 

A Tin UBON POWDER. 

Very quick, ^or woodcock and other shooting. Sizes, 
Nos. 1 to 4. In metal kegs of 12^ and G| lbs., and 
canisters of lib. 

ORANGE RIFLE POWDER. 

Best for rifles, and good for alhprdinary pifTposes. FG, 
FFG, and FFFG. In woqd and m'etal kegs of 25, 
12^ and G^ lbs., and canisters Vf 1 lb. and ''^* lb. 



LAFLIN & RAND POWDER CO., 

21 PARK ROW, 

Opposite Astor House, ][VKW ^^OKMi:. 



Mining Sc Blasting* IPo-wder. Safety 

Fuse. Steam Rock Drills. Dualin. 
Electric Blasting Apparatus, Etc. 




t/ '^^^ \^/ .*^': %/ 




















v-' p- 



*°-n^^ 



0' 1^» 








y^. 




H°«. 






■^-o 

.^^ 








AT 








^iU'^^^, ^'-4 





"^^ ^'^ 

-t.-!^ 



^^ >. 



A^ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




01 



4 220 533 6 



